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Floridians Hunker Down as Wilma Approaches
Written by
Lesly C. Simmons
, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Sunday, October 23, 2005 — ORLANDO — By Sunday afternoon, Wilma’s outer bands began lashing the south coast of Florida, causing flooding in the Keys and increasing concerns about the threat of the storm as it picked up speed in the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite everything the U.S. has seen during this year’s hurricane season and mandatory evacuation orders issued by state officials, only about five to seven percent of residents in the Keys chose to evacuate.
“We had law enforcement encouraging people to leave, but unfortunately we cannot make them go,” said Irene Toner, director of emergency management for Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys. “We are very discouraged about the low number of people evacuated.”
Wilma marks Florida's eighth hurricane since August 2004 and the fourth time this year the Keys were ordered evacuated. Nearly 200 miles off shore, the storm is expected to come ashore near Naples, Fla., on the southeast coast as a strong Category 2 or Category 3 storm and forecasters are expecting a storm surge of about 14 feet. Tornado watches and tropical storm warnings were in effect for most of Florida’s central and southern counties.
State emergency officials urged residents and tourists in southern Florida to head north toward Orlando. Hotels throughout the region posted "No Vacancy" signs as Floridians moved farther north from the projected path of the storm, expected to make landfall sometime early on Monday.
News scrolls urged residents heading to shelters to bring ample clothing, bedding, medications and enough food to last for at least three days. For those that did chose to leave, the American Red Cross had dozens of shelters open or on standby to serve evacuees.
Emergency crews from across the country pulled into Orlando over the weekend, using the Epcot parking lot at Walt Disney World as their staging area. Disney parks and other major tourist attractions planned to stay open Monday, with the presumption that the storm will hit south of the area.
At least four deaths and millions of dollars in damage in Mexico have been attributed to Wilma. More deaths and widespread devastation were reported in Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba, as reports begin to come out of the area.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Midwest ice storms, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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