Hurricane Wilma has finally moved away from Mexico's Gulf Coast after battering the Yucatan peninsula over the weekend.
The storm, which caused severe flooding, has killed at least six people.
It sent waves surging over hotels in Cancun, wiped out electricity supplies and flattened hundreds of homes.
The army and navy are planning to drop aid supplies for the tens of thousands of people in overcrowded shelters.
Wilma is currently a category 2 storm but is expected to weaken further into a category 1 as it approaches Florida's west coast.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Alpha has formed in the Caribbean, making 2005 the busiest hurricane season on record.
It is the first time the National Hurricane Center has had to resort to using the Greek alphabet to name a storm, after all 21 names pre-assigned for storms this year were used up.
The hurricane season still has five weeks to run. It ends on 30 November.