Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said. "Let's just be ready and be safe." U.S. space agency NASA on Sunday closed its Kennedy Space Center on the Atlantic coast of central Florida, and told its 13,000 workers to stay home on Monday. Wilma did heavy damage in Mexico, where relentless howling winds and torrential rain for days ruined homes, hotels and stores all along the "Maya Riviera," which pulls in millions of tourists with its white sand beaches, coral-filled seas and nearby Mayan ruins. Troops drove around handing out food but luxury beachfront hotels on a long spit of sand have been cut off by water since Friday after the sea roared hundreds of yards (metres) inland. Four people were killed on the island of Cozumel, a well-known scuba diving site, and another three on the mainland, bringing Wilma's overall death toll to at least 17 after mudslides killed 10 people in Haiti last week. Six people were injured by tornadoes spawned by Wilma in Pinar del Rio, civil defense officials said. This hurricane season counts three of the fiercest storms on record and became the most active season since records began 150 years ago with the formation on Saturday of Tropical Storm Alpha. Experts say the Atlantic has entered a period of heightened storm activity that could last 20 years.
