Hurricane Ian made landfall in western Cuba on Tuesday as a major hurricane, with nothing stopping it from intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 storm before making landfall on Wednesday in Florida, where officials ordered the evacuation of 2.5 million people.
Ian made landfall at 4:30 a.m. ET Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, rushed emergency personnel and took measures to protect crops in the main tobacco growing region of the country.
A man and his dog walk past a sign reading “Bark Off Ian, No Treat for You” painted on a pet gift shop that is boarded up for the possible arrival of Hurricane Ian on Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Florida (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday morning that there were “significant wind impacts and storm surge” in western Cuba. Ian hit with sustained top winds of 125 mph. Up to 4.3 meters of swell was predicted on the coast of Cuba.
Ian was forecast to strengthen further over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and reach maximum winds of 145 mph (225 km/h) as it nears the southwest coast of Florida. Tropical storm-force winds were expected across the southern peninsula Tuesday afternoon, reaching hurricane force Wednesday morning.
Damage is expected in a wide area
“Right now, we’re focusing on west-central Florida as the main area of impact,” hurricane specialist Andy Latto told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
With tropical storm-force winds extending 115 miles from Ian’s center, damage was expected across a wide swath of Florida regardless of where Ian makes landfall. The hurricane center extended its storm surge warning to the peninsula’s Atlantic coast and extended its tropical storm warning from Boca Raton, Florida to Brunswick, Georgia, a distance of about 603 kilometers
Gil Gonzalez boarded up his windows with plywood Tuesday and had sandbags ready to protect his Tampa home from flooding. He and his wife had stocked up on bottled water and packed flashlights, batteries for their cell phones and a camp stove with a large propane burner as they prepared to evacuate.
“All valuable possessions, we put them upstairs at a friend’s house and nearby, and we have the car loaded,” Gonzalez said. “I think we’re ready.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged people to prepare for extended power outages and to get out of the storm’s potential path.
“It’s a big storm, it’s going to bring up a lot of water as it comes in,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Sarasota, a coastal city of 57,000 that could be affected. “And you’re going to end up with very significant storm surge and you’re going to end up with very significant flooding. And that’s the kind of life-threatening swell.”
To prepare, hundreds of residents were being evacuated from several nursing homes in the Tampa area, where hospitals were also transferring some patients. Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West airports closed. Busch Gardens in Tampa was closed until at least Tuesday, while Disney World in Orlando closed four hotels but put on hold any decision to close its theme parks.
“The best thing they can do is leave”
The hurricane center also expanded its hurricane warning to include Bonita Beach north through Tampa Bay to the Anclote River. Fort Myers is in the hurricane zone, and Tampa and St. Petersburg could take their first direct hit from a major hurricane since 1921.
“People on the barrier islands who choose not to go there do so at their own peril,” said Roger Desjarlais, county manager of Lee County, where Fort Myers is located. “The best thing they can do is leave.”
The county issued mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas including Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Bonita Beach, home to about 250,000 people.
People clean a street in Consolacion del Sur, Cuba, Tuesday after Hurricane Ian made landfall early this morning. (Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images)
As the center of the storm moved into the Gulf, scenes of destruction emerged in Cuba’s famed tobacco belt. The owner of major cigar producer Finca Robaina posted photographs on social media showing wooden and thatched roofs smashed to the ground, greenhouses in rubble and overturned wagons.
“It was apocalyptic, a real disaster,” wrote Hirochi Robaina, grandson of the operation’s founder.
State media published photographs showing heavy flooding flowing through the city of San Juan y Martinez and more than a million Cubans were without power Tuesday morning, including all of the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Artemisa. There were no reports of deaths.
The hurricane is expected to expand, become stronger
Ian’s forward motion was expected to slow over the Gulf, allowing the hurricane to grow stronger and stronger before it brought searing winds and water to Florida’s west coast. Forecasters said the ocean water surge could reach three meters if it peaks at high tide. Precipitation could total 41 centimeters, with up to 61 centimeters in isolated areas. Coastal communities could be flooded.
Strong winds and heavy rain batter the Cuban countryside in Consolación del Sur after Hurricane Ian made landfall on Tuesday. (Reuters)
In Key West, the airport closed Tuesday as rain from the storm added to an already high tide to flood streets, prompting animal rescuers to delay leaving until after the passage of ‘Ian. In Orlando, Disney World closed four hotels as a precaution, while putting on hold any decision to close its theme parks. Busch Gardens in Tampa was closed until at least Thursday. In Florida’s northeast corner, the U.S. Navy said it planned to move ships and aircraft from its base outside Jacksonville.
Playing it safe, NASA was taxiing its moon rocket from the launch pad to its hangar at Kennedy Space Center, adding weeks of delay to the test flight. Airports in Tampa and St. Petersburg announced they would close Tuesday afternoon.
Residents and a police officer fill sandbags on Monday as Hurricane Ian turned towards Florida with strong winds, torrential rain and a powerful storm surge, at Al Barnes Park in Tampa Bay, Florida (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters )
US President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and properties FEMA has strategically positioned generators, millions of meals and millions of gallons of water, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Damaging winds and flooding are expected across the peninsula as Ian moves north, reaching Georgia, South Carolina and other parts of the southeastern United States between Friday and Sunday, the hurricane center said.
This satellite image released by NASA shows Hurricane Ian getting stronger as it heads toward Cuba. Ian hit the western tip of Cuba as a major hurricane early Tuesday and is expected to gain strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before hitting Florida. (AP)