Playa del Carmen (Mexico): Hurricane Wilma slammed into Mexico's Caribbean beach resorts on Friday and knocked over houses, upturned trees and trapped thousands of tourists in cramped shelters.
Powerful waves swallowed up white sand beaches and flooded low-lying areas as Wilma a Category 4 hurricane?hung over the area.
"When we get tornadoes in Texas they come and go in 20 minutes. But this seems to be going on for ever," Gloria Winkles, a tourist from Texas said.
European backpackers settled down under candlelight for a second night on Friday as howling winds rattled their hotel's doors and windows.
In Cancun, a haven of luxury hotels perched on a long strip of sand, tourists evacuated to a business hotel were told to stay in bathrooms, well away from windows.
Yucatan nailed
Forecasters warned of catastrophic damage as the eye of the storm moved from the Caribbean, over the Yucatan peninsula.
Mexican emergency officials said more than 50,000 people were evacuated and about 17,000 were put in schools, gymnasiums and hotel conference rooms further inland.
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