Photos from October 20, 2005

  • Bottles representing different kinds of alcohol fill the shelves behind a simluted bar. In addition to learning how to be a bartender, some students also elect to be T.I.P.S.-certified, which is an alcohol awareness program.
  • Leslie Redshaw, 20, of Bonita Springs, mixes a drink. The 40-hour course, which costs $695, meets 10 times over 2½ weeks.
  • Instructor Barbara Carey shows students how to make a martini. She has been in the bartending business for 46 years and owned nightclubs in New York before relocating to Florida.
  • Patti Claudio, 18, of Naples, prepares a drink with the help of Gabriel Polk, of Naples, during a class at the National Bartenders Casino Games and Hospitality School. The 11 students in the class work together to learn how to mix drinks.
  • Instructor Barbara Carey guides students as they practice pouring drinks at the National Bartenders Casino Games and Hospitality School in Bonita Springs.
  • This image provided by NOAA taken on Wednesday at 4:26 pm EDT shows Hurricane Wilma. The fringes of Hurricane Wilma — which rapidly strengthened to one of the Americas' most intense storms ever — lashed Caribbean coastlines Wednesday forcing tourists to flee and thousands to evacuate as it threatened to slam into Cancun and southern Florida.
  • Jim Cox prepares plywood to hang on the windows of a Islamorada realty company as Hurricane Wilma approaches the Florida Keys.
  • Juan Avelar, center, and his work crew hang hurricane shutters on a Key Largo shopping center Wednesday as Hurricane Wilma approaches the area.
  • Leon Dermer pauses to talk about moving the hundreds of pieces of pottery into his Key Largo store Wednesday as Hurricane Wilma approaches the Florida Keys. He said that when a mandatory evacuation order is issued for the area, it costs him at least $10,000 to move the goods into his store, close his business for one to three weeks as he waits for the storm to pass and then for tourists to return to the area.
  • National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield gestures during the 4:45 PM EDT news conference Wednesday in Miami. Forecasters said the forward motion of Category 5 Wilma appears to be slowing, which would lead to the storm eventually weakening. While some forecasting models disagree, the center is still predicting that the storm will eventually move into the Gulf of Mexico and then turn east toward Florida.
  • A message to Hurricane Wilma is displayed outside an insurance company office in Palm City Wednesday.
  • Tom Carluccio Jr., of Palm City, fills up multiple gas cans at a gas station in preparation for Hurricane Wilma.
  • Bart Tracy, left, and his sons Austin Tracy, 7, and Nathan Tracy, 14, right, load sheets of plywood as they preapare for the possibility of Hurricane Wilma Wednesday in Venice. After going through Hurricane Charley last year and waiting in long lines for supplies, the Englewood family was buying plywood early this time, they said.
  • Alex McGavock, left, and Fred Hardison, center, prepare Stuart Business Systems in Jensen Beach on Wednesday for the possibility of a hit from Hurricane Wilma.
  • A stream of cars pass through Homestead Wednesday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that Hurricane Wilma would be a 'significant threat' to Florida by the weekend.
  • Henry Esparza works to board up several cabins located in the Pahokee Marina Campgrounds on the eastern edge of Lake Okeechobee in Pahokee Wednesday. Absentee owners hired Esparza to do the work on the log-style cabins located inside the protective dike designed to protect the town from flooding in the event Hurricane Wilma moves into the area.
  • David Bailey of West Palm Beach reads the label of a gallon of bottled water while shopping for supplies in advance of Hurricane Wilma at a grocery store in West Palm Beach Wednesday. Store employees Antonio Mesa Fernandez (center) and Ivan Alongo, rear, stack the water shelves.
  • In preparation for Hurricane Wilma, Emilio Muguira of Plantation loads up on plywood to board up his home Wednesday at a home improvement store in Davie.
  • Angel Rodriguez of Miami Gardens sorts stacks of shutters Wednesday at the Habitat for Humanity store in Fort Lauderdale. The store was one of the few places shutters could be found.
  • Matthew Hartley of Delray Beach loads sheets of plywood on his truck in the parking lot of a home improvement store, Wednesday, preparing for the possible arrival of Hurricane Wilma. Hurricane Wilma, the most intense storm the Americas have ever seen, blasted Caribbean coastlines on Wednesday and threatened to slam into Cancun and southern Florida. With 12 people already dead, alarmed officials began evacuations from Honduras to the Florida Keys.
  • Hiram Torris, left, and Brian McKinney remove the canvas top from one of the many tents at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show Wednesday. The show management started taking tents down in preparation for Hurricane Wilma. The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that Wilma would be a 'significant threat' to Florida by the weekend in a season that has already seen devastation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Officials ordered tourists out of the Florida Keys.
  • Wednesday evening at the Chevron fuel station at the Albertson's and Target plaza on U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs, about 16 vehicles snaked around the pumps to get their fuel in response to Hurricane Wilma's projected path through Southwest Florida. By Wednesday afternoon, some stations in Bonita had already run out of gas and diesel, their hand-pumps covered with yellow, green and red vinyl bags.
  • Michael and Shelly Shanaberger put plywood over the windows of their business, Shelly Anne's Garden Children Store, Wednesday on U.S. 41 in North Naples. 'This one might bite us in the butt,' said Michael Shanaberger, who has lived here his entire life. 'I was here through Donna, and this one worries me,' he said adding that he and his wife are planning to evacuate to the east coast.
  • Gas stations around Naples, such as this Mobile station on the corner of U.S. 41 and Central Avenue, are showing signs Wednesday that people are preparing for Hurricane Wilma. Cars are beginning to line up out of the parking lots.
  • Cape Coral resident Wayne Follansbee wipes sweat from his forehead after loading his truck up with plywood from Home Depot on Pine Ridge Road on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for Hurricane Wilma.
  • Naples resident Zachary Bragg, center, helped his father, Mark Bragg, left, as much as any 1-year-old could in collecting and purchasing hurricane supplies Wednesday at Home Depot in Bonita Springs. The Braggs were preparing for Hurricane Wilma, which is expected to make landfall in Florida on Saturday.

Features