Florida prepares to make landfall today
Hurricane Ian upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm and neared Category 5 status, its maximum sustained winds blowing at 155 mph as Florida’s west coast prepared to make landfall Wednesday after -midday.
“It’s going to have major impacts in terms of wind, rain, flooding,” Governor Ron DeSantis warned during a briefing Wednesday. “So it’s going to be a dirty, dirty day, two days.”
More than 100,000 South Florida homes and businesses were already in darkness early Wednesday, according to tracking website poweroutage.us. Power outages should be expected statewide, Florida Power & Light warned.
AccuWeather forecasters predicted a landfall just northwest of Fort Myers, between Don Pedro Island and Boca Grande, around 4 p.m. At 7 a.m., Ian’s center was located 65 miles west-southwest of Naples.
“We are now forecasting a catastrophic storm surge of 12 to 16 feet from Englewood to Bonita Beach,” the hurricane center advisory warned.
Ian’s stunning wind speeds were within 2 mph of Category 5, the highest status on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.
The last:
• Hurricane tracker: Where is Ian going? See the map.
• Do you need to evacuate? How to stay safe when approaching Ian.
• Provide: Ian will likely spend days dumping rain on Florida. Here are the prospects.
Hurricane Ian tracking
Tornadoes hit Florida
Tornadoes were also a risk. Tornadoes were possible through Wednesday evening in central and southern Florida, the hurricane center said. CBS4-TV reported that at least 10 mobile homes were damaged by a possible tornado on Tuesday in Davie, a Broward County town of 110,000 people 25 miles north of Miami. Another possible tornado was also reported in Broward County.
Heavy rains and flooding spread to Georgia and South Carolina
Heavy rain will spread across the Florida peninsula through Thursday. Widespread and prolonged major and record-breaking riverine flooding is expected in central Florida, the weather service said. Water woes will reach parts of the southeastern United States later this week and weekend.
“Wide and life-threatening catastrophic flooding is expected in parts of central Florida with extensive flooding in southern Florida, northern Florida, southeast Georgia and coastal South Carolina. “, said the service in a notice.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has declared a statewide emergency and said up to 500 National Guard troops are preparing to be called in if needed.
WHAT IS THE HURRICANE SAFFIR-SIMPSON WIND SPEED SCALE?Scale breakdown of hurricane categories
Ian puts Cuba in the dark
Cuba remained in darkness early Wednesday after Hurricane Ian knocked out its power grid and devastated homes, businesses and valuable tobacco plantations when it hit the western tip of the island on Tuesday as a storm category 3. Authorities are working to gradually restore service to the country’s 11 million people, Cuba’s Electric Union said in a statement.
“The damage is significant, although it has not yet been possible to report on it. Aid is already flowing in from all over the country,” Cuban President Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said on Twitter. “Rest assured that we will recover.”
Airports, public transport and theme parks prepare for the storm
Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West were closed on Wednesday. Orlando International was scheduled to close at 10:30 a.m., and at least 700 outbound and inbound flights were canceled early Wednesday.
Miami-Dade County has suspended Metrobus, Metrorail and other public transit services “until further notice.” Disney World and Sea World theme parks in Orlando all closed ahead of the storm.
A couple from England vacationing in Tampa found themselves battling the storm at a shelter. Glyn and Christine Williams from London were ordered to leave their hotel near the beach when evacuations were ordered. Because the airport closed, they couldn’t catch a flight home.
“Unfortunately all the hotels are full or closed so it looks like we’re going to be at one of the shelters,” Christine Williams said.
WHAT IS STORM SURGE? :Explaining the Deadliest and Most Destructive Threat of a Hurricane
Contribute: The Associated Press
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