Hurricane Wilma inched toward Florida yesterday, but winds and rain continued to whip Mexico's devastated Caribbean coast. Officials struggled to bring aid to hundreds of thousands who were cut off by the storm that killed at least seven people.

Flood waters forced tourists in hotels and shelters to climb to higher floors as Wilma ripped away storefronts and peeled back roofs in Cancun. On the island of Cozumel, a navy rescue mission spotted three bodies floating down a flooded avenue and a fourth in a town square.

After nearly two days of deadly winds and flying debris, officials were only starting to be able to assess Wilma's damage.

The storm had been downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 160 kph as it crawled northeast. But it was expected to pick up speed and strength, sideswiping Cuba before it slammed into Florida. The hurricane's center was located 145 kilometers north of Cancun yesterday morning local time.

President Vicente Fox planned to travel to the affected region on Sunday (local time), as the army and navy prepared to move in emergency supplies, including food, water, medicine and roofing.

The US Embassy was sending consular officials to shelters yesterday, an effort to help people prepare for the evacuation of some 30,000 tourists after the storm. The US government also offered to donate US$200,000 in hurricane aid.

Yesterday could bring an additional 25 to 38 centimeters of rain to the already saturated Yucatan Peninsula and western Cuba, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane sent water surging over the narrow strip of sand housing the city's luxury hotels and raucous bars, joining the sea with the resort's alligator-infested lagoon on Saturday.

Lobbies were gutted as waves from the open sea slammed into some low-lying hotels, Quintana Roo State Governor Felix Gonzalez said.

Cancun residents had ventured briefly from their hiding places to survey the flooded, debris-filled streets as the eye of the storm passed over the famous resort.

Several dozen people looted at least four convenience stores, carrying out bags of canned tuna, pasta and soda, while others dragged tables, chairs and lamps from a destroyed furniture store. Police were guarding only larger stores, including a downtown Wal-Mart and an appliance store.

Yucatan Governor Patricio Patron told Formato 21 radio that one person was killed by a falling tree, but he offered no details. And in Playa del Carmen, two people died from injuries they sustained Friday when a gas tank exploded during the storm, Quintana Roo state officials said.

(China Daily October 24, 2005)