The state has seen seven hurricanes hit or pass close by since August last year, causing more than US$20 billion in estimated damage and killing nearly 150 people.
Referring to Wilma's explosive two-day growth from tropical storm to a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 hurricane, Mayfield said "this is one of the most perplexing storms we have had to deal with" this year.
On Wednesday, tourists packed Cancun's airport even though skies were still partly sunny, looking for flights home or to other resorts.
Mark Carara cut his family's vacation short by two days, and tried to get on a standby flight home to Colorado Springs.
"You hear it was the biggest storm on record, and yeah, that was the clincher right there," he said. "It was time for us to go."
Heavy rain, high winds and rough seas pounded coastal areas of Honduras on Wednesday, knocking out power to about 20 towns, cutting off roads to four others and forcing the evacuation of coastal villages and the closure of two Caribbean ports. Four fishermen were reported missing at sea.
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