October 24, 2005
CNN
Photo: Key West resident Richard Yates walks down a flooded Truman Avenue.
NAPLES, Florida (CNN) -- Powerful Hurricane Wilma made landfall Monday near Cape Romano, Florida, and raced toward the east coast of the peninsula with 100-mph winds.
The eyewall hit at 6:30 a.m. ET, about 22 miles south of Naples, the center said.
At 8 a.m. ET, Wilma was about 35 miles east-northeast of Everglades City. A continuing increase in forward speed is expected throughout the day as it's forecast to cross the peninsula and exit into the Atlantic.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami recorded a wind gust of 104 mph.
"The metropolitan areas of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Dade County are experiencing some of the worst of the weather now," said NHC deputy director Ed Rappaport. "Over the next hour or two conditions will actually get worse, and we'll actually have hurricane conditions for a number of hours. It's important for people to just stay inside."
Water rushed onto the beaches over Marco Island, rising rapidly onto boardwalks as the backside of the eyewall moved in. (Watch Wilma pound Marco Island -- 5:19)
"What's incredible is how close the waves are breaking to us," reported CNN's John Zarrella. "Normally they would be out about 100 yards or so."
The once-Category 5 storm roared across the peninsula at 23 mph, moving into the Everglades.
The NHC warned that storm surge flooding of 12 to 18 feet was possible along the coast near and to the south of where Wilma made landfall.
WHITECAPS IN THE POOL
On Florida's east coast, winds were already beginning to damage a hotel in the city of Hollywood.
"The wind here is absolutely ferocious," reported CNN's Allan Chernoff. "I'm looking at the roof of the lower portion of the hotel we're in. Right now, part of the roof is being ripped off.
"Sand is just flowing in from the beach, which is just a few hundred yards away. On the first floor of the hotel, one window has already crashed into the restaurant -- glass all over the restaurant.
"The pool immediately below me looks like the ocean. There are whitecaps in the pool right now and the palm trees right in front of me right now are just whipping back and forth. So, it's very intense at the moment."
Far to the south, police reported widespread flooding and storm damage to residences and businesses in Key West, Florida.
Wilma is the seventh hurricane to hit the state in 14 months, and officials said they were concerned that thousands of people had ignored a mandatory evacuation order in the Florida Keys.
The hurricane center said the risk of tornadoes had "increased significantly" as Wilma approached the coast.
The NHC is concerned about the low-lying Florida Keys "because of their particular vulnerability."
The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, R. David Paulison, said Monday he was most concerned about Floridians who did not choose to evacuate ahead of the storm, especially in the Keys.
"We're going to move as quickly as we can ... to get the roads cleared, and as soon as we can get helicopters up, to start moving our search and rescue teams in to search some of those areas," Paulison said.
On Sunday, "very few" residents of the Florida Keys heeded the evacuation order, said Billy Wagner, manager of the Monroe County Emergency Operations Center.
Gov. Jeb Bush also emphasized that remaining behind was a bad idea.
"A hurricane is a hurricane," Bush said. "It has deadly force winds."
No shelters were opened in the Keys due to a lack of structures that can withstand hurricane-force winds and rain.
A storm surge of 5 to 8 feet is predicted for the Keys, Wagner said.
"I'm very concerned about those subjected to storm surge," Wagner said.
The Keys, just a quarter-mile wide in many places, are mostly between 4 to 6 feet above sea level.
DEATHS IN MEXICO
Meanwhile, heavy rain was falling overnight in western Cuba, including Havana, as the center of Wilma passed to the north. As many as 500,000 residents were evacuated. A wind gust of 85 mph was recorded in Havana around 7 p.m. EDT Sunday, Mayfield said
The ground in western Cuba was already saturated from days of rain that began when Wilma passed to the south on its eastward journey to Mexico, where it pounded the Yucatan Peninsula for two days. Four deaths were blamed on the storm in Mexico. (Full story)
A second storm -- Alpha -- was downgraded Sunday from a tropical storm to a tropical depression after making landfall in the Dominican Republic. (Full story)
Alpha marked the first time the list of storm names has been exhausted, necessitating the use of the Greek alphabet.
CNN's Chad Myers, Miles O'Brien, Gary Tuchman, Anderson Cooper, John Zarrella, Allan Chernoff and Jason Carroll contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/10/24/wilma/index.html