Hurricane Wilma Strikes Mexico as U.S. Prepares for Florida Landfall

Hurricane Wilma officially made landfall in Mexico Friday evening as the eye of the storm reached coastal cities.

|PIC1|The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said that Wilma officially made landfall about 4:30 p.m. EDT when the eye of the storm hit Cozumel, Mexico’s largest island. Wilma then moved inland reaching the Yucatan Peninsula seven hours later, striking the region between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Morelos.

"I never in my life wanted to live through something like this," said cook Guadalupe Santiago to the Associate Press (AP).

"There are no words" to describe it, she said.

Eyewitnesses of the storm report that streets were flooded, trees were down, windows shattered, tin roofs were dismantling in the wind, and shelters were crowded and leaking.

“The Yucatan is really getting nailed on this,” said Max Mayfield, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Centre to Reuters. “It will continue to pound that region for at least 24 hours.”

Wilma came ashore with 140 mph sustained winds, a number much lower than its record breaking figure on Wednesday with winds of 175 mph. Wilma is said to be a slow-moving storm, moving at only 3 mph, and is expected to batter the coastline for a 24 hour period causing greater devastation. Moreover, the Category 4 storm has an unusually wide diameter of 500 miles (800 km).

|TOP|Fortunately, there have been no reports of deaths yet, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Florida Peninsula began a mandatory evacuation today at noon in anticipation of Wilma to hit on Monday morning. Although the storm is still in Mexico, the United States already is feeling the effects of the pending hurricane. Reports indicate that there have been rain and thunderstorms in many areas in the Florida Peninsula. In addition the Ohio Valley, Appalachians, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Southeast have been experiencing heavy rain.

"We are talking about a record hurricane as far as rain is concerned," said meteorologist Alberto Hernandez Unzon to AP.

Operation Blessing, a Christian relief agency based in the United States, has reported coordination efforts in Ocala, Fla.

“If Wilma comes ashore in Florida, Ocala may be ideally located to support relief efforts,” said Bill Horan, president of Operation Blessing in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Salvation Army – which runs the second-largest disaster relief operation in the United States behind the American Red Cross – also has 20 feeding campaigns "staged and ready to come in when the storm [passes] through the state," according to Melissa Temme, public relations specialist for The Salvation Army.

"We really don't know what to expect," said Temme, as the organisation stands alert in the United States.






Michelle Vu
Christian Today Correspondent