Wilma slams into Florida

Hurricane Wilma crashed ashore in southern Florida on Monday and roared across the Everglades toward the densely populated Miami area after slamming Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and killing 17 people across the Caribbean.

Once the most intense hurricane on record in the Atlantic, Wilma weakened after hammering Cancun and Cozumel for three days,but revved up as it raced toward Florida, its top sustained winds strengthening to 200 kph.

Wilma’s powerful core struck the Florida mainland around Cape Romano, near the city of Naples. The sprawling storm, about 645 km across, covered much of the peninsula and hit as a Category 3 on the five-stage scale of hurricane intensity, capable of causing significant damage. Hurricane-force gusts of at least 118 kph and flooding rains hit the Florida Keys where storm-weary residents largely ignored evacuation orders.