Hurricane Wilma weakened slightly as it roared toward Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and southern Florida, leaving 13 people dead in its wake and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands in coastal areas from Honduras to the Florida Keys.
Wilma briefly grew into a monstrous Category 5 storm before weakening to a Category 4 on Wednesday night.
Tourists were ordered out of the Florida Keys and the island of Isla Mujeres near Cancun on Wednesday, and authorities were poised to move out thousands of others yesterday from low-lying areas in a 1,000km swath covering Cuba, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and the Cayman Islands.
"People should take this hurricane very seriously," said Scott McClellan, spokesman for President George W. Bush.
"The potential for large loss of life is with us," Max Mayfield, the director of the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, referring to Wilma's possible landfall tomorrow in Florida.
Some of the estimated 70,000 tourists still in Cancun and surrounding areas were taking the warnings more seriously than others, as heavy rains began lashing the city. The Senor Frog's restaurant in Cancun sponsored a "Hurricane Wilma" party, but it was far from full.
Standing knee-deep in the ocean and drinking beer in Playa de Carmen, south of Cancun, Mike Goepfrich, of Minneapolis, Minnesota said "as long as they give me beer in the shelter, and my kids are safe, we'll be fine. We're going to ride it out here."
Nearby, fisherman Rolando Ramirez, 51, was helping others pull their fishing boats from the water in preparation for Wilma's passage.
"People here aren't concerned about anything," Ramirez said. "They don't know that when the hurricane comes, this will all be under water."
At 2am, Wilma's sustained winds were measured at 250 kph, down from a peak of 282 kph earlier in the day, but forecasters said it could strengthen again yesterday to a Category 5 storm.
Wilma was centered 345km southeast of Mexico's Cozumel Island, and moving west-northwest at 13 kph. A turn toward the northwest was expected later yesterday.
If Wilma makes landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, it could cause coastal storm surge flooding of 2.1m to 3m above normal levels, the National Hurricane Center said.
Countries across the region prepared for the worst. Much of Central America was still recovering from Hurricane Stan, which left more than 1,500 people dead or missing. Americans were still mourning 1,200 Gulf Coast victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The storm was on a curving course that would carry it through the narrow channel between Cuba and Mexico on Friday, possibly within a few miles of Cancun and Cozumel.
In the coastal state of Quintana Roo -- which includes Cancun -- officials ordered the evacuation of four low-lying islands, including Isla Mujeres, and also closed the popular cruise ship port on the island of Cozumel.
"This is getting very powerful, very threatening," Mexican President Vicente Fox said.
Hundreds of schools in Quintana Roo were ordered closed yesterday and Friday, and many will be used as storm shelters.
Predictions differed on where the hurricane would go and how strong it would be when it reaches US shores, where Florida residents began buying water, canned food and other emergency supplies.
Wilma's track could take it near Punta Gorda on Florida's southwestern Gulf Coast and other areas hit by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, in August last year.
The state has seen seven hurricanes hit or pass close by since August last year, causing more than US$20 billion in estimated damage and killing nearly 150 people.
Referring to Wilma's explosive two-day growth from tropical storm to a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 hurricane, Mayfield said "this is one of the most perplexing storms we have had to deal with" this year.
On Wednesday, tourists packed Cancun's airport even though skies were still partly sunny, looking for flights home or to other resorts.
Mark Carara cut his family's vacation short by two days, and tried to get on a standby flight home to Colorado Springs.
"You hear it was the biggest storm on record, and yeah, that was the clincher right there," he said. "It was time for us to go."
Heavy rain, high winds and rough seas pounded coastal areas of Honduras on Wednesday, knocking out power to about 20 towns, cutting off roads to four others and forcing the evacuation of coastal villages and the closure of two Caribbean ports. Four fishermen were reported missing at sea.
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