http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...d/12972505.htm

Wilma inflicts massive damage in Mexico as another storm forms

.... Wilma all but stalled, repeatedly pounding high-rise hotels and
other facilities in heavily developed tourist areas. In Cancun, the
Caribbean flowed over the hotel zone, reached three stories high and
merged with an inland lagoon. Hundreds of tourists had to be rescued
from their refuge at a gymnasium after the roof blew away. ...


.... Felix Gonzalez Cantu, the governor of Quintana Roo state, said
that schools, hospitals, hotels and highways were substantially
damaged. He called it "a level of destruction without precedent."

There was particular concern for the residents of Cozumel, an island
hammered by the storm, where only half of the 150,000 people heeded
evacuation orders ...


.... "It's mind-boggling ...," said David Nolan, a University of Miami
meteorology professor. "We're now in the same state of shock - or
exasperation - as anyone."

Said Ben Nelson, the Florida state meteorologist: "We never thought we
would ever, in our wildest season, go all the way down the list."


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1240521&page=2
.... In the Fort Lauderdale area, dozens of residents were already
dealing with hip-deep flooding from Wilma's outer bands a full two days
before the storm was expected to barrel ashore. Five inches of rain
overnight forced the evacuation of about 50 houses and apartments.

"We've got two more days before the hurricane," said Belinda Orange,
31, who had about a foot of water in her Oakland Park home. "What are
we going to do?"