THE US: Emergency officials started evacuating residents from Florida's Gulf coast yesterday as Hurricane Wilma hammered seaside resorts in Mexico.
Meteorologists said the storm was unlikely to reach Florida until Monday, if at all.
However, Florida's governor Jeb Bush has declared a state of emergency and officials have urged people living in the hurricane's path to leave their homes immediately.
The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami warned that the storm had the potential to do "catastrophic damage", particularly in Mexico and Cuba, where it is expected to arrive over the weekend.
Cuba has evacuated more than 370,000 people from their homes in preparation for Wilma's arrival and Mexico has evacuated more than 50,000 people from the Yucatan peninsula.
Mexican president Vicente Fox has urged people to remain in shelters. "The most important thing now . . . is to protect lives," he said in a televised speech.
Winds and driving rains gathered strength as Wilma, a category four hurricane with winds of 230km/h (145mph), moved in slowly from the Caribbean.
Emergency officials said the slow-moving storm could linger over the Yucatan peninsula and cause torrential rains across southern Mexico, raising the risk of lethal mudslides and damage to coffee crops.
The storm was expected to dump 25 to 50cm (10 to 20 inches) of rain across the Yucatan peninsula and isolated areas of mountainous western Cuba. According to the National Hurricane Centre, some areas could get up to 100cm (40 inches) of rain.
The hurricane, which has already killed at least 13 people in Haiti and Jamaica, could remain over Mexico for two days. It is expected to weaken before it moves northwards towards Florida.
The storm is not expected to turn west towards Mississippi and Louisiana, but could go east into the Atlantic without hitting Florida.
Wilma is an unusually large hurricane, with an eye 61km (38 miles) wide and storm-force winds extending 322km (200 miles) from the centre.
Meteorologists say it could cause extensive damage, with storm surges between three and five metres. Major cities including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach could be hit by strong wind and heavy rain.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has positioned 150 truckloads of ice and 150 truckloads of water near the danger zone and the Red Cross has 200,000 meals available.
Mr Bush urged people not to hoard petrol, adding that an estimated 200 million gallons of fuel were available at Florida ports.