Wilma Is A Monster. A Killer. And The Strongest Storm Ever Recorded In The Atlantic

(CBS/AP) Visitors were ordered out of the Florida Keys on Wednesday as Hurricane Wilma, with 175 mph winds, exploded into the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. Meteorologists warned it could maintain devastating power as it crosses Florida from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic.

Jamaica, Cuba, Nicaragua and Honduras were getting heavy rain from the storm, though it was not likely to make landfall in any of those countries. Many residents prepared for the worst only weeks after rains left more than 1,500 people dead or missing in Central America and Mexico.

With rough seas already pounding coastal areas, flood-prone Honduras warned that Wilma posed "an imminent threat to life and property" and closed two seaports on its Caribbean coast. Neighboring Nicaragua and the Cayman Islands also were on alert.