Hurricane Wilma, Cancun and my honeymoon...

(AP Photo)

Briefly the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, Wilma was a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm before weakening. Its 150-mph winds made it more powerful than Hurricane Katrina when it plowed into the Gulf coast of the United States.

Tropical storm-force winds and rains were already hitting Cozumel by Thursday night. Hundreds of schools in the Yucatan were ordered closed, and many were turned into shelters. Airlines started canceling flights.

While hundreds left Cozumel, Mexican officials said about a thousand tourists stayed on the island, mainly at hotel ballrooms being used as shelters. About 20,000 tourists remained at shelters and hotels on the mainland south of Cancun, and an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 were in the city itself.

____________________________________________

Eleven weeks from now I am expecting to be sitting on the beach in Cancun for my honeymoon. I know it's a resort area, and is probably better suited to recover than most of Mexico, but I do hope this one misses as much as possible, or at least hits more lightly than expected. Banana and I had dinner with the family of a college friend of her's last night, and then this morning Banana took them to the airport, where they flew to Orlando for the next 5 days. Just in time to get dumped on by Wilma. They've rented a car, and are planning on evacuating Saturday from Disney World to some where farther North if it looks like the storm is going to hit them. Their tickets were non-refundable, and American Airlines was completely unwilling to work with them. My experience with American Airlines is that they have the WORST customer service of all the air lines I have ever flown. So if you have a choice, fly Frontier, fly JetBlue, fly Soutwest, but avoid American Air if possible.