Orlando corridor to prepare for Wilma. "This is a very frightening storm that is on our doorstep," said Monroe County Mayor Dixie Spehar in the low-lying Florida Keys island chain. Authorities in the Keys, which are connected to mainland Florida by a single road, ordered tourists out on Wednesday and told the islands' 80,000 residents to evacuate on Thursday. Helicopters and ambulances moved critically ill patients from the Lower Keys Medical Center to a sister hospital in Alabama Mayfield said Wilma could churn up 35- to 50-foot (11 to 15-metre) waves over the open sea and sending huge breakers over the coast. "I just don't see how the Florida Keys will get out of this without having a major impact," Mayfield said. Storm warnings were in force for Honduras in Central America, where more than 1,000 people died this month after Hurricane Stan triggered mudslides that buried entire villages. Warnings were also in force for the Yucatan, Cuba and Belize. Wilma's rains triggered mudslides that killed up to 10 people in deforested and impoverished Haiti, civil protection officials said. The storm was expected to dump up to 25 inches (64 cm) of rain on mountainous parts of Cuba, and up to 15 inches (38 cm) on Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, a British colony south of Cuba. Honduras and Mexico could expect up to 12 inches (30 cm) of rain, the hurricane center said. By 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), the hurricane was about 300 miles (480 km) southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. Fishermen took their boats to safety, MTV canceled a major Latin awards show on Mexico's Caribbean coast and tourists lined up at the airport to escape the beach resort of Cancun, but many flights were full. Wilma was the 21st storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, tying a record set in 1933. It was also the 12th hurricane and tied the record for most hurricanes in a season set in 1969.
