A hurricane warning was issued today for the southern Florida peninsula, the Florida Keys, Florida Bay and the Dry Tortugas.

Residents evacuated, owners boarded up homes and businesses and emergency officials prepared rescue and relief plans as forecasters predicted Hurricane Wilma would pick up speed on a course toward Florida.

Mexico’s popular Cancun resort area has taken a battering from Hurricane Wilma as tourists huddled in hotels and shelters amid howling winds and shattering glass.

Residents began fleeing the Florida Keys and parts of the United States mainland today as Hurricane Wilma headed towards Florida.

Hurricane Wilma pounded the Mexico coast today as terrified tourists sought shelter from its furious winds and rain.

Punishing winds and rain pummelled the Mexican island of Cozumel early today and Cancun braced for the brunt of Wilma’s wrath as the massive hurricane inched toward Mexico’s resort-studded coastline, where thousands of stranded tourists took refuge in shelters and hotel ballrooms.

Desperate tourists, trapped after Mexico’s Cancun airport closed, shuttled from luxury hotels to emergency shelters ahead of Hurricane Wilma, which forecasters say is growing stronger.

The governor of Florida today declared a state of emergency ahead of approaching Hurricane Wilma, but the state got a little breathing room when the storm’s slower pace postponed its likely landfall.

Thousands began fleeing Florida once again today as Hurricane Wilma hurtled towards the US coast.

MTV has postponed its Latin America Music Awards ceremony in Mexico due to the approach of Hurricane Wilma.

Hurricane Wilma weakened slightly as it roared toward Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and southern Florida today, leaving at least 12 people dead in its wake and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands in coastal areas from Honduras to the Florida Keys.

Hurricane Wilma, the most intense storm to form in the Americas, lashed the coasts of Central America and Caribbean islands today as it lumbered toward Mexico’s Cancun resort and Florida.

Monroe County officials have ordered visitors out of Florida Keys ahead of Hurricane Wilma, the first US evacuations caused by the Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Wilma has rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 storm, posing a significant threat to the Caribbean and Florida coastline.

Hardware stores that sent supplies to areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita restocked their shelves for anxious Floridians waiting to see if Hurricane Wilma would turn toward the peninsula, which forecasters said could happen by the weekend.

Wilma, the record-equalling 12th hurricane of the Atlantic season, is poised to become a major category four storm as it steams along a track that will take it past Central America, Cancun, Cuba and eventually into Florida.