I'll be terse: A category 5 is something anyone who has lived through would never want to experience again. I expect massive damage and loss of life from this storm. A nightmare. Especially near waterways and in floodplains. Most wooden buildings in the path will be destroyed and trees will be massively uprooted, all leaves and all grass removed, near the beaches, the beach sand will sandblast the paint off of the corners of the concrete buildings, cars will be blown about, flipped, same for trailers and semis, all exposed glass, broken, all overhanging awnings of wood or aluminum will become missiles, all power down, trees and power poles will block highways, many deaths by crushing and drowning. Tall buildings will sway and many will show stress cracks from the swaying. In high rises with unprotected glass {no hurricane shutters} the windows and sliding doors will explode and all items will be blown miles away. Small craft near shore, even in dry dock, will be damaged in the multi million dollar range.
I'm making it short. A very deadly storm.

A Cat 5 is nothing to sneeze at, thats for damn sure.

we can only hope something cools it down a little before it hits. although it is probably pretty close. they said 20 mph? if i had cable, i'd be watching for it now. i wonder if there's a live weather channel on the 'Net....maybe CSPAN is doing something with it. i bet it's any time now.

at least they were smart, according to this article, the towns are empty. at least where they anticipate it. who knows how accurate that will be.

but i hear you. even if people are lucky enough to clear out far and wide...what will be left when they return?

If a hurricane comes to visit you and you don't clear out, you'll notice things changing about 12-18 hours before it actually arrives, when the weird-looking cloud bands start sweeping across the sky, all fast and low and moving in the same direction. It is only then that you begin to realize just how large the thing is, and maybe you'll start thinking that you should have gotten out while you could. A hurricane's not like a tornado; for all of the power that tornadoes have, they usually just breeze through in a matter or a minute or less -- while hurricanes grind at your homes and businesses for hours and hours. Surely the people in central Yucatan will need help, both from the Mexican government and from outside the country.

There won't be any live weather channel out of the storm zone, the winds blow all that away, towers and sensors and cameras by the time the wind speed reaches 80 or 100 miles an hour, which is very serious. This storm is beyond comprehension at over 160 and up to 200 at gusts and you will see very few feet of actual footage at the worst. If someone is inside a bunker and can shoot video from in there that is visible {lots of rain and debris blown sideways} then maybe something.
The screaming sound and the vibration of the concrete building shaking for 12 hours is the real noticias. That doesn't come across on video.

From the morning reports, it seems the storm has been merciful. Good news.

No doubt.

I checked in with a friend in Cancun earlier. He said there was little to no damage in the city, but that downstate things would be worse. This makes me sad... the poorest areas seem to be the ones that are gonna be hit worst by nature. Hopefully this won't be anywhere as bad as Wilma. The trees in Quintana Roo still look beat up two years later.

thanks for the update, cindylu.