CANCUN, Mexico — Mexico's economy took a big blow from Hurricane Wilma, with some palatial beachfront hotels at the heart of its tourism industry left in ruins and shopping centers emptied by looters.

Soldiers and federal police took to Cancun's streets today to prevent further theft, and President Vicente Fox announced plans to start evacuating 30,000 frazzled tourists.

Officials hoped to start busing some tourists 170 miles across the Yucatan Peninsula to the airport in Merida late today. Fox said he hoped Cancun's airport could resume operations Tuesday so evacuations could move quicker.

There was no estimate on damage, but beachfront hotels were devastated and already some have said they will be closed through the rest of the year. Those include, according to a Reuters report, three Marriott resorts in Cancun. As well as the hotel destruction, many of Cancun's approximately 500,000 residents lost nearly everything in flooded or destroyed The booming string of hotels anchored by Cancun produce almost half of the country's $11 billion in yearly foreign tourism revenue. And Christmas/New Year is one of the busiest tourist times. "We're approaching the full tourist season. So speed is fundamental," Fox said.

Ana Patricia Morales, vice president of the Cancun Hotels Association, said full recovery could take until Easter. She told the Associated Press that all the group's 110 hotels had sustained damage, ranging from broken windows to structural problems.

Lingering over the region for two days, the hurricane battered Cancun's line of luxury hotels into an expensive breakwater. Lobbies were heaped with twisted metal, broken marble and shattered glass. The beachfront was gone from some hotels, leaving their foundations exposed. An estimated 20,000 vacationers are stranded in temporary shelters around Cancun: the nearby tourist island of Cozumel and smaller beach resorts also sustained heavy damage. Electricity was still out in much of Cancun y today, and the president estimated it would take a week to restore power.

Many Cancun tourists were still sheltering in school classrooms reeking of sweat and mildew. While a generator growled at an elementary school housing more than 1,000 evacuees, no lights were working. Hand-scrawled paper signs urged civility: "Respect each other."

Information

U.S. State Department: For information on contacting consular officials, www.travel.state.gov

Shouting erupted when soldiers demanded tourists stop trying to recharge cellular phones with the generator. Outside, people lined up 15 deep at any pay phone found to be working.

Some tourists said they had been promised a flight out Tuesday. But Jeremy Dean of Chattanooga, Tenn., expressed skepticism. "Everybody keeps saying tomorrow, tomorrow. After about Friday, we stopped listening to that," he said.

Some expressed irritation the U.S. government had not done more.

"I feel the Mexican government is helping here to an extent, doing the best they can," said KeVen Riley, town finance administrator for Paw Paw, Mich. "But the U.S. has done nothing. Where is our government? They are only preparing for Florida; they forgot about us."

A few people burst into tears when U.S. consular officer Lisa Vickers arrived later and said evacuation is largely up to tour operators. She urged people to stay with their tour groups.