Now at Category 4 with sustained winds of 250km/hr, Ian’s center was about 72 kilometres west of Naples around 11am ET (1am Thursday AEST) and is expected to cross onto land, perhaps north of Fort Myers near the Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda areas, by early Wednesday afternoon (Thursday morning AEST), the National Hurricane Center said.
Much of west-central Florida and even places inland face disaster: “Historic” storm surge up to 5.5 meters is possible and could swallow coastal homes; rain could cause flooding across much of the state; and crushing winds could flatten homes and stop electricity service for days or weeks.
“This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said early Wednesday, stressing that people in Ian’s path along the coast should rush to the safest possible shelter and stay there.
And for those who didn’t heed evacuation orders along flood-prone coasts, a dire warning: In some places, it’s too late to get out, and people should “move to upper floors to escape rising water if necessary,” the National Weather Service said.
“It’s no longer possible to safely evacuate” from Collier County up to Sarasota County, Gov. Ron DeSantis said around 8am, as key paths out, including the Skyway Bridge from Manatee to Pinellas counties, were closing.
“It’s time to hunker down and prepare for this storm,” he said. “This is a powerful storm that should be treated like you would treat” a tornado approaching your home.
After pummeling Cuba on Tuesday, leaving at least two dead and an islandwide blackout, Ian is taking aim at Florida’s vulnerable Gulf Coast, where residents have been boarding up and leaving in droves on congested highways.
More than 2.5 million people were advised to flee, including 1.75 million under mandatory evacuation orders – no small ask in a state with a large elderly population, some of whom have to be moved from long-term care centers.
The governor said the state has 30,000 linemen, urban search and rescue teams and 7,000 National Guard troops from Florida and elsewhere ready to help once the weather clears.
Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West closed, as did Disney World theme parks and Sea World in Orlando ahead of the storm. Hotels along the coast either filled up or closed down, and with flights canceled, some tourists planned to join locals at emergency shelters.
Catastrophic storm surges
Air Force hurricane hunters confirmed Ian gained strength over warm Gulf of Mexico water after battering Cuba, bringing down the country’s electricity grid and leaving the entire island without power.
Ian’s forward movement shifted slightly southward, with the massive storm appearing on track to slam ashore somewhere north of Fort Myers, likely sparing Tampa and St. Petersburg from their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
The area is popular with retirees and tourists drawn to pristine white sandy beaches and long barrier islands, which forecasters said could be completely inundated.
Catastrophic storm surges could push as much as 3.7 to 5.5 meters of water over a nearly 160-kilometre stretch of coastline, from Bonita Beach north through Fort Myers and Charlotte Harbor to Englewood, the hurricane center warned. Rainfall near the area of landfall could top 46 centimeters.
‘It could strengthen again and affect another part of the US’
After plowing Wednesday into southwest Florida, Ian’s center is expected move over central Florida through Thursday morning. Heavy rain also is possible in South Florida, as well as eastern Georgia and coastal South Carolina.
“Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flash, urban, and river flooding is expected” across central and southern Florida, the hurricane center said.
Considerable flooding also is possible in southern Florida through Wednesday and in northeast Florida, southeastern Georgia and coastal South Carolina through the weekend, the hurricane center said.
“This is a wind storm and a surge storm and a flood storm, all in one. And this is going spread itself out across the entire state. Everybody is going to see something from this,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
By late Thursday, Ian is due to emerge over the Atlantic Ocean, where it could strengthen again and affect another part of the US.
Parts of far southern Florida by early Wednesday morning had begun feeling the storm’s effects, with tropical storm-force winds and at least two possible tornadoes reported in Broward County, including at North Perry Airport, where planes and hangers were damaged. Major flooding was being reported in Key West due to storm surge, along with power outages.
Schools, supermarkets, theme parks, hospitals and airports had announced closures. The Navy moved its ships, and the Coast Guard has shut down ports.
As winds pick up, gas stations may temporarily run out of fuel, DeSantis said.
Cuba begins to turn on lights after Ian blacks out island
Cuban officials said they had begun to restore some power Wednesday after Hurricane Ian knocked out electricity to the entire island while devastating some of the country’s most important tobacco farms when it hit the island’s western tip as a major storm.
At least two people were reported killed after the hurricane struck with top sustained winds of 205 km/hr.
The Energy and Mines Ministry announced it had restored energy to three regions by activating two large power plants in Felton and Nuevitas and was working to get others back on line.
Lights started to flicker on in the capital, Havana, but much of the city and other parts of western Cuba remained without power on Wednesday. It was the first time in memory — perhaps ever — that the whole island had lost power.
On Tuesday, Ian hit a Cuba that has been struggling with an economic crisis and has faced frequent power outages in recent months. It made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the island’s western end, devastating Pinar del Río province, where much of the tobacco used for Cuba’s iconic cigars is grown.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and others fled the area ahead of the arrival of Ian, which caused flooding, damaged houses and toppled trees.
State media reported two deaths in the province: a woman killed by a falling wall and another by a collapsed roof.
