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Wilma's strongest winds hit southwest Fla.
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-24 19:16

Hurricane Wilma crashed ashore early Monday as a strong Category 3 storm, battering southwest Florida with 125 mph winds and pounding waves that threatened flooding in low-lying areas.


In this National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration color-enhanced satellite image, the center of Hurricane Wilma is shown about 70 miles southwest of Naples, Fla., at about 3:45 a.m., Monday, Oct. 24, 2005, and moving northeast towards the southwest Florida coastline. [AP]

Wilma made landfall at 6:30 a.m. EDT near Cape Romano, 22 miles south of Naples in Collier County, bringing with it a potential 19-foot storm surge, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane-force wind of at least 74 mph extended 90 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds reached 230 miles, the hurricane center said. The storm strengthen in the hours before making landfall.

More than 22,600 people were in shelters across the state. But in the low-lying Florida Keys, not even 10 percent of the Keys' 78,000 residents evacuated, Sheriff Richard Roth said.

That could prove to be a mistake: While Wilma did not make landfall over the Keys, the storm could bring a surge of 8 feet to sections of the low-lying island chain.

"They're going to be in deep trouble," warned Billy Wagner, the senior Monroe County emergency management director. Street flooding was reported in the Keys, while power outages were reported in both the Keys and along the southwest side of the state.
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