Slow Wilma Lets Florida Prepare
Plodding Hurricane Now Expected To Come Ashore On Sunday
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Play CBS Video Video Hurricane Lessons In Florida Many in southwest Florida took their chances during Hurricane Charley last year - and experienced Category 4 fury. Jim Acosta reports that this year, storm gamblers are becoming storm scramblers.
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Video Evacuation Plans Tested As Florida prepares for Wilma, Tampa residents, especially retirees, are worried about how to evacuate without getting caught in massive traffic jams. Trish Regan reports.
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Video Wilma's Track Uncertain Web Exclusive: Forecasters are still struggling to determine the path that Hurricane Wilma will take. Brian Norcross reports that the storm will likely be weakened when it threatens Florida.
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Florida Gov. Jeb Bush briefs reporters on the status of Hurricane Wilma, as a satellite image of the hurricane is projected on a screen in the background, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP)
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A message to Wilma in in Palm City, Fla.: Don't blast us back to the Stone Age (AP Photo/The Stuart News)
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A hotel's watchman looks at the waves in Cancun beach, Oct. 20, 2005, as Hurricane Wilma threats the shores of the Yucatan peninsula. (Getty Images)
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Workers board the windows of a restaurant in anticipation of Hurricane Wilma in Cancun, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005. (AP)
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Strong waves batter Cancun (AP)
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Interactive Storm Tracker Follow all the storms of the 2009 season with satellite images, warnings and wind speed charts.
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Interactive Hurricane Wilma Photos, video and interactive elements showing the damage Hurricane Wilma left in Mexico and South Florida.
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News Tools How To Help Organizations you may contact to give aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Wilma would likely strike Florida's western coast about midday Sunday, a day later than previously thought.
CBS News hurricane expert Bryan Norcross says that Wilma is "driving forecasters crazy" because of inconsistent computer models. It is still unknown where Wilma will strike Florida, but when it does, it may be "significantly weaker" (video) — perhaps a Category 2 storm, Norcross says.
Max Mayfield, director of the center, said the slowdown would likely weaken the storm from a Category 4, with sustained 145 mph winds, to a Category 3 or less before making landfall in the United States.
"The timing is certainly working in our favor," Mayfield said. But he warned that a Category 3 storm, with winds of 111 mph to 130 mph, would still have "that potential for large loss of life."
Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency to ensure that necessary supplies and disaster response teams were in place.
"This is the time to prepare," Bush told reporters in Tallahassee.
In Tampa, CBS News correspondent Trish Regan reports that some of the city's most vulnerable residents — retirees — are meeting to make sure they're ready.
"We've done some extra preparation this year and we're scared," said Judy Kramer, a resident at Sun City Center.
Regan reports that one of the things they're most scared about is how to evacuate without getting caught in massive traffic jams like the ones Texas faced as millions tried to flee Hurricane Rita. Tampa plans on evacuating only those in harm's way, but it will take time.
"It would take us 24 hours just to evacuate Tampa alone," Tampa's Fire Chief Dennis Jones told Regan.
The storm was predicted to make a turn to the northeast toward Florida after striking Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in the western Caribbean Sea.
Mayfield said Wilma is unusually large, with tropical storm-force winds extending out some 260 miles from the center that could cause widespread damage.
"Don't just focus on the eye of the hurricane," Mayfield said.
State meteorologist Ben Nelson warned that Wilma could produce a storm surge of 12 to 17 feet.
©MMV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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