Hurricane Wilma roars towards Florida

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.

Tourists were ordered out of the Florida Keys and the island of Isla Mujeres near Cancun yesterday and authorities were poised to move out thousands of others today from low-lying areas in a 600-mile swathe covering Cuba, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and the Cayman Islands.