Saturday, October 22, 2005

Nature's Fury: Big Storm and Big Shark

CANCUN, Mexico Oct 21, 2005 — Hurricane Wilma tore into Mexico's resort-studded Mayan Riviera on Friday with torrential rains and shrieking winds, filling the streets with water, shattered glass and debris as thousands of stranded tourists hunkered down in hotel ballrooms and emergency shelters.

Packing winds of 140 mph, the storm shattered windows and downed trees that crushed cars on the island of Cozumel, a popular cruise-ship stop. Pay phones jutted from floodwaters in the famed hotel zone.

"Tin roofing is flying through the air everywhere. Palm trees are falling down. Signs are in the air and cables are snapping," Julio Torres told The Associated Press by telephone from the Red Cross office in Cozumel.

Friday, October 21, 2005
BODEGA BAY, Calif. — The water was eerily glassy and calm. Then a 16-foot shark attacked from behind, leaving a young surfer desperately trying to defend herself.

Halavais was paddling into the water off Salmon Creek Beach (search) in Sonoma County in Northern California on Wednesday when the shark attacked. Halavais, an experienced surfer, said she got away after she hit the shark on its tail.

"A 16-foot shark is a big shark. It's not just 16 feet in length. It's big. I couldn't fit my arms around its tail. Its fin, its main dorsal fin, was like taller than me," Halavais recounted for reporters at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital (search) as she sat in a wheelchair, her bandaged leg extended in front of her.

Halavais, from Santa Rosa, was helped from the water by other surfers. She was taken to a hospital with a bite that stretched from her thigh to her calf. She was listed in good condition.

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