Ignorance is ... bliss?

Just found this article on the web -- I'm glad we had no idea what was going on! There was one TV which worked intermittently, and we watched CNN a couple of times in the evening. That was the extent of our news. The resort manager was monitoring reports on the Internet, so we weren't completely blind!

Hurricane Wilma rains lash Honduras Caribbean coast
18 Oct 2005 19:49:59 GMTSource: Reuters
By Gustavo Palencia

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Hurricane Wilma dumped heavy rain along Honduras' Caribbean coast on Tuesday and emergency crews prepared the evacuation of 10,000 people, including tourists on idyllic scuba diving islands.

Wilma, expected to intensify into a major hurricane with winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph), hovered off Honduras' Caribbean coast and the government declared a maximum alert as the storm menaced the beautiful Bay Islands.

"Wilma is the biggest threat for Honduras in this hurricane season," said Jose Ramon Salinas, operations chief of the government's emergency relief agency.

The islands of Roatan, Utila and Guanaja -- diving resorts popular with U.S., Japanese and European tourists for their pristine coral reefs -- were among the most vulnerable areas, Salinas said.

Plans were in place to evacuate at least 10,000 people from low lying regions, including the Bay Islands and other northern coastal regions, Salinas said.

"We are sending food to areas that could become cut off and we are moving heavy machinery to repair roads in the event of flooding or landslides," Salinas said.

"Rains are likely to become heavier and people have to be on the alert, especially for flooding," said Luis Corea of the National Weather Service.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center forecast Wilma could deluge Honduras with up to 10 inches (15 cm) of rain, piling more misery and damage on Central America, which is still recovering from Hurricane Stan earlier this month.

More than 1,000 people in Guatemala and El Salvador were killed or disappeared in mudslides and floods triggered by rains from Hurricane Stan.

Wilma is the 21st tropical storm of the Atlantic season, tying the record for most storms. It was not expected to make landfall in Honduras or anywhere else in Central America but its proximity meant heavy rainfall was certain, raising fears of new landslides.

Forecasters bet Wilma would take a northwesterly path into the Gulf of Mexico between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba in the next few days and then cross over southern Florida on Saturday.

Roatan's airport was shut down temporarily because of heavy overnight rain and poor visibility and the airport at La Ceiba on the Honduran mainland, which serves the Bay Islands, was also closed.

Alice Newman, an bookstore employee on Roatan, said Wilma lashed the island with wind and rain overnight but by midday Tuesday the diving paradise was enjoying a respite.

"Right now, we have clear skies and there's a soft breeze but we know that can change fast with these hurricanes so we are keeping close checks on the weather," Newman told Reuters by telephone.

Honduran President Ricardo Maduro cut short a visit to Spain and flew back to his country on Tuesday to oversee emergency plans.