Be safe Florida GC'ers (and families).
Wilma most intense Atlantic storm on record
Florida Keys evacuations begin; hurricane could eventually hit New England
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 2:19 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2005
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - Gathering strength at a record pace, Hurricane Wilma grew into the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded Wednesday — a Category 5 monster with 175 mph winds that is expected to make landfall somewhere on Florida’s west coast by late Saturday and then possibly make course for New England.
“People need to be prepared. Get ready for this,” said police Chief Bill Mauldin of Key West, a vulnerable city at the tip of the low-lying Florida Keys island chain.
The National Hurricane Center — which bases a storm’s strength on barometric pressure, not wind speed — said Wilma’s pressure had dropped to 882 millibars, the lowest minimum pressure ever measured in a hurricane in the Atlantic basin. Pressure drops as a hurricane gains strength, and the previous record was set by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 at 888 millibars.
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