Wilma Now Biggest Atlantic Storm on Record

U.S. weather forecasters say category-five Hurricane Wilma has strengthened into the most powerful Atlantic storm on record. The National Hurricane Center says a reconnaissance aircraft measured the storm's pressure at 882 millibars early Wednesday - breaking a record set by Hurricane Gilbert 17 years ago.

Lower barometric pressure is one sign of an intense hurricane. At last report, Wilma's sustained winds had reached 280 kilometers per hour.

At least 10 people have died in flooding and mudslides in Haiti, after several days of heavy rain from the storm. The storm has also brought heavy rains to Jamaica, Honduras and the Cayman Islands.

Wilma is currently centered in the northwestern Caribbean, on a course that will carry it Friday through the narrow channel between western Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Forecasters say the storm is likely to turn east and hit the U.S. state of Florida later this week.


source: voanews.com