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We Screwed! Cat.5 WILMA!
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| LiquidX |
| quote: | Posted on Wed, Oct. 19, 2005
Wilma mushrooms into monster storm
By MARTIN MERZER, JENNIFER BABSON AND PHIL LONG
[email protected]
Hurricane Wilma exploded this morning into the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, a Category 5 monster with 175 mph winds. It adopted a curving path likely to carry it to South Florida this weekend -- as a major hurricane.
Wilma still was hundreds of miles away and much could change, but long-range forecasts consistently suggested landfall Saturday night on Florida's lower Gulf Coast -- as a potentially catastrophic Category 4 storm -- with the hurricane slicing diagonally through South Florida en route to the Atlantic.
Weather in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and the Florida Keys could begin deteriorating Friday afternoon. If Wilma hits Florida, it will be the eighth hurricane to strike or brush the state in 15 months.
''We hope Wilma will go the way of the Flintstones -- back to the Stone Age,'' said Richard Hatch, owner of a Key West restaurant. ``This is a bummer.''
Incredibly, the storm grew from a Category 2 hurricane at 11 p.m. Tuesday into a top-scale Category 5 by 5 a.m. A hurricane hunter plane measured its barometric pressure at 884 millibars, the lowest minimum pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The previous record holder, Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, had a low pressure reading of 888 millibars. Forecasters cautioned that the overnight reading of Wilma's pressure still had to be verified.
The five-day cone of danger covered the entire Florida peninsula, the Keys and much of Cuba, where the storm's outlying rain produced landslides, floods, mass evacuations and a hurricane watch. Watches and warnings also were posted in the Cayman Islands and for portions of Mexico and Honduras.
Wilma was expected to produce 10 to 15 inches of rain in Cuba, with up to 25 inches in mountainous terrain. Five to 10 additional inches could fall on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
With nothing but warm water and favorable atmospheric conditions ahead of it, Wilma was expected to maintain its status as a major hurricane, though its strength will ebb and flow to some extent.
''It is probable that Wilma will still be a major hurricane when it reaches the Florida peninsula,'' said forecaster Jack Beven of the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County.
The 12th hurricane of this extraordinary season, Wilma ties the one-year record for hurricane formation in the Atlantic basin, set in 1969.
This year, officials in the Keys already have ordered evacuations for hurricanes Dennis and Rita.
Now here comes Wilma, and emergency managers said they might have to order evacuations of Keys tourists on Thursday and residents on Friday. Schools and county offices are likely to close Thursday and Friday.
Wilma could hardly have materialized at a worse time: Key West's annual weeklong Fantasy Fest -- a major moneymaker that attracts thousands of revelers to the island chain -- is set to begin this weekend.
''We don't want to get caught,'' said Irene Toner, Monroe County's director of emergency management. ``We want to make sure that by Friday night, we are all set. All of this could change if the track changes or slows down.''
The county asked the National Guard to place on standby C-130s routinely used to evacuate Keys hospital patients.
In Miami-Dade and Broward, watchful waiting was the order of the day. Emergency managers in both counties advised residents to check their storm shutters and poststorm supplies.
''At this point, residents should have plenty of time to get their hurricane supplies together, if they haven't already,'' said Carl Fowler, spokesman for the Broward emergency management division.
Said Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade emergency management office: ``We've all been through this drill before. Stay informed. These things can change rather quickly.''
In Tallahassee, emergency managers began gearing up -- once again.
State leaders conducted conference calls with local emergency managers and dispatched ''area coordinators'' to the Keys and several Southwest Florida counties.
''It is incumbent on all Floridians, particularly those along the Gulf Coast, to pay heed and watch this storm over the next several days,'' said Mike Stone, spokesman for the state emergency management office.
In St. Augustine, officers in the Florida National Guard's new operations center -- already staffed around the clock because more than 100 members are still on post-Katrina hurricane duty in Mississippi -- began looking southward.
''We're vigilant,'' said Col. Ron Tittle, a Guard spokesman. ``We're aware of Wilma and we are already discussing how we are going to respond in support of local and state officials.''
More than 8,000 troops were available, he said.
On the meteorological front, Wilma moved slowly through the western Caribbean -- and steadily grew stronger.
''Wilma is expected to become an intense hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, typical of those hurricanes which commonly occurred in October during the '30s, '40s and '50s,'' said hurricane forecaster Lixion Avila. ``This is nothing new.''
Neither is preparing for hurricanes in Florida -- or in Cuba.
The center of the storm was expected to pass close to Cuba's western tip Friday, but its outer bands caused mudslides and floods Tuesday in eastern Cuba.
More than 5,000 people were evacuated from portions of Cuba's eastern provinces, according to media reports.
The six-month hurricane season officially ends Nov. 30, though that sometimes is a technicality, with storms developing in December.
''At this point,'' Stone said, ``I'll be glad if we can end the season Nov. 30. It has been one of those years.''
Herald staff writer Julia Neyman and Herald translator Renato Pérez contributed to this report. |
Blaahh.. BLAH and BLAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
:whip: |
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| kelly923 |
| in fabulous :mad: |
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| ctprincess |
| quote: | Originally posted by kelly923
in fabulous :mad: |
couldn't have said it any better
:whip: :whip: :whip: :whip: :whip: |
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| brokeral |
We all goin down!!
Nah just messin. Who knows, maybe it'll just stop in the middle of the Gulf and just chill. :conf:
If it hits anything in the Carribbean or Latin America...man, its gonna be unreal. And FL sure as hell doesn't need anymore of these 8/ |
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| MJM420 |
Looks like she may rain on all or our parades this weekend.
:mad: :mad: :whip:
:toocool: |
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| FallingMoon |
W T F I saw that this morning...
Even if it doesn't hit us head on but hits west FL at a 5 we will still get a beast.
:mad: :rolleyes: |
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| Zewad |
| everythign south of the tampa/orlando area will be shut down saturday... i have a feeling.. |
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| DrDave |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zewad
everythign south of the tampa/orlando area will be shut down saturday... i have a feeling.. |
I don't know why Brent, but I have a feeling you might be right about this one.:D |
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| Gryphyn |
It won't be a 5 when it hits, if it hits. Gulf Water is cooler than Caribbean, so it's going to lose power once it moves up some.
And forecasters also know all until it's closer. Even then, it can change for the better or worse at last minute. Don't worry too much, but Tampa area will probably start closing down in preperation this weekend if they don't alter the forecast significantly. |
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| XxGrOoVeERICxX |
:mad:
When will it ever end?!?!? :whip: |
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| mdamon7278 |
| it, Im still coming home :gsmile: |
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| DigitalPhoenix |
| Walter Mercado predicts: this one "va a ser de pinga" :thepirate |
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