Fearful of the deadly potential of the strongest hurricane ever recorded, authorities ordered holiday hotels emptied and moved populations away from low-lying coastal districts.

Cuba told 100,000 people to move away from the western coast and Havana, Mexico ordered 33,000 tourists to get away from beach resorts on the Yucatan peninsula which could take the first hit from Wilma on Friday.

Florida authorities ordered thousands of tourists and non-residents to get off the Keys islands off the tip of the southern state, which could take the brunt of the storm this weekend.

Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica and other Caribbean islands were also on alert for the backlash from Wilma, which is now a category five storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale and has been packing winds of up to 280 kilometers (175 miles) an hour.

Mexican authorities told tourists on the Yucatan peninsula -- a popular sun spot for US and European holidaymakers -- to go home. All major hotels on Isla Mujeres and Holbox, two islands off the resort off Cancun, were ordered emptied.

Tourists were to be sheltered in about 250 schools, gymnasiums and hotels away from the coast.

Organizers postponed the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America planned for Wednesday in Cancun because of the looming hurricane.

A spokeswoman for the event, Dulce Gordillo, told AFP "now the priority is to get the artists back to their homes" before the storm hits.

Ships have been ordered into dock in many areas of the peninsula.

"The storm is very powerful and very threatening", said Mexico's President Vicente Fox, "but all the prevention mechanisms are ready, we have been preparing for days."

In Cuba, more than 90,000 people were ordered away from low-lying areas in western provinces, about 10,000 people were ordered away from the eastern provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo. A hurricane alert was sounded in the Havana region where the crumbling condition of buildings means the capital always suffers in storms.

Central American countries hard hit by Hurricane Stan, which left 2,000 people dead or missing, also went on alert as heavy rain from Hurricane Wilma fell.

Eleven people have been killed in Haiti in floods and landslides after two weeks of torrential rains, but authorities have not linked the deaths to Wilma.

Heavy rains from the storm do "pose a threat to flood-prone areas" in many parts of Nicaragua, government meteorologist Marta Castillo said.

In Honduras, as rains resumed the standing emergency committee issued alerts for the departments of Gracias a Dios, Colon and the low-lying Bay islands. Residents were told to prepare to evacuate.

Costa Rican authorities issued flood alerts for almost all of the country and urged 1,800 people left homeless by Stan earlier this month to remain in shelters and not return home to avoid potential for trouble caused by Wilma.

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