By midafternoon, a weaker Wilma was expected to skirt the southern end of Lake Okeechobee and head into the Atlantic off Palm Beach County. By early tomorrow, it was expected to be off the coast of Canada, but forecasters said it may not bring heavy rain because its projected track was far off shore.
David Paulison, acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said FEMA personnel were in shelters waiting for the hurricane winds to die down before they could assess the damage and begin relief efforts. He said he was "very concerned" that so many people in the Keys did not evacuate.
While FEMA was bitterly criticized for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina, this time the agency had people working side by side with state emergency officials, Paulison said.
"We are going to make sure that we have good visibility on anything that's going on the ground to make sure we ... understand exactly what's happening," he said on CBS.
Weary forecasters also monitored Tropical Depression Alpha, which became the record-breaking 22nd named storm of the Atlantic season this year.
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