Como se pode ver no terceiro mapa, a trajecto previsto para o Wilma (actualmente classificado como furacão de categoria 5) não contempla a zona costeira onde se situam a maioria das plataformas e refinarias norte-americanas do Golfo do México. Em consequência, os futuros do crude aliviaram ontem mais de $1 em Nova Iorque, para os $62,44 (fut DEZ05).
As zonas mais afectadas deverão ser a península do Yucatan (México), as Ilhas Cayman e a zona mais ocidental da ilha de Cuba. Nos EUA a costa Oeste do estado da Florida e as Ilhas Keys constituem a maior preocupação para as autoridades norte-americanas.
Hurricane Wilma winds now 175 mph!
2:31 a.m. ET 10/19/2005
Matthew Newman, Senior Meteorologist, The Weather Channel
Hurricane Hunters have just recorded a pressure of 892 mb, tied for the 2nd lowest pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. This represents more than a 70 mb drop in less than 8 hours! Winds are now up to 175 mph making this a Category 5 hurricane. Hurricane watches have been extended up to parts of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Hurricane Wilma is moving west-northwestward at 8 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. Heavy showers are likely in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, northern Honduras and southern Cuba. Wilma may try to slip through the Yucatan Channel into the extreme southern Gulf of Mexico and turn to the east or northeast. Residents of the southern Florida, including the Keys, should begin thinking about the possibility of a hurricane strike sometime this coming weekend.