October 19, 2005
Hurricane Wilma Measured as Most Intense Atlantic Storm on Record
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:24 a.m. ET
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) -- Forecasters who watched Hurricane Wilma explode into the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record said Wednesday it bring devastating winds to the state's East Coast as well as the southwestern coast where landfall is predicted. Meanwhile, officials ordered visitors out of the Florida Keys, the first U.S. evacuations caused by the Category 5 storm.
Storm-weary Floridians kept an anxious eye on Hurricane Wilma as it grew Wednesday, with forecasters warning of a significant threat to the state by the weekend. The storm, which also menaced Cuba and Central America, had winds of 175 mph.
The storm was expected to come ashore in southwestern Florida, threatening coastal areas like Punta Gorda that were hit by Charley, a Category 4 storm that was the first of seven hurricanes to strike or pass close to the state since August 2004.
Early Tuesday, Wilma was only a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph. With winds more than 100 mph faster by the same time Wednesday, it had shown in the most rapid strengthening ever recorded in a hurricane, said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
It was expected to move across Florida quickly, which means it wouldn't weaken much over land, Cobb said. That means it's possible Atlantic coast cities such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach could be hit by winds nearly as strong as the west coast, Cobb said.