Emergency officials issued the first evacuation orders for the Florida mainland on Friday in advance of slow-moving but powerful Hurricane Wilma, and residents of the Florida Keys also were asked to start leaving.
The mandatory order, effective at noon, covered part of the Gulf Coast town of Naples and the snowbird enclave of Marco Island.
It was not immediately clear how many residents were affected, Collier County emergency management officials said. But early Friday, northbound traffic out of the Naples and Fort Myers area was backed up for at least 10 miles on Interstate 75.