Monster hurricane going from strength to strength

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

It now rates the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of low pressure.

Wilma’s pressure dropped as low as 882 mb early today, making it the strongest Category 5 hurricane on record.

Local officials ordered evacuations to begin on the Florida Keys today.

Storm-weary residents have already begun stocking up on emergency supplies and preparing to evacuate.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush expressed disbelief that a sixth storm looked set to hit the state since August 2004.

“Why us? It’s just something we’re going to have to live with and prepare for,” he said.

The warnings are no longer taken lightly, residents having witnessed the devastation and deaths wreaked by Hurricane Katrina across the Gulf coast.

Supermarkets and home-repair shops stocked extra food, ice and other supplies ahead of an expected onslaught.

Wilma is packing winds of 175mph as it roars north west towards the Yucatan Peninsula and western Cuba.

Hurricane-force winds stretch up to 15 miles from the centre, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 135 miles.

Forecasters predict it will make a sharp turn to the north east and be threatening southern Florida by the weekend.

The drastic change came within 24 hours as Wilma evolved from a tropical storm into the most powerful hurricane on scale.

Despite the dangers posed, Wilma is not expected to sustain its strength.

“Wilma is near its maximum potential intensity and further strengthening is not anticipated,” the National Hurricane Centre said in a statement.

It is the 12th hurricane of the season, the same number reached in 1969, the highest since record-keeping began in 1851. It is also the 21st named storm, tying the record set in 1933.