Hurricane Ian quickly intensified off the southwest coast of Florida on Wednesday morning, gaining maximum winds of 150 miles per hour, just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status. Damaging winds and rain battered the state’s densely populated Gulf Coast, with regions from Naples to Sarasota at “the highest risk” of a devastating storm surge.
US Air Force hurricane hunters confirmed that Ian gained strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico after hitting Cuba, where residents of the island were left without power.
The The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ian was centered about 100 kilometers west-southwest of Naples at 7 a.m. ET, turning toward the coast at 17 kilometers per hour. Forecasters and the Federal Emergency Management Administration have said the speed could slow as it approaches landfall in Florida, meaning the storm could linger before it passes.
The major hurricane has prompted warnings of a potentially dangerous storm surge along the state’s densely populated Gulf Coast from Bonita Beach to the Tampa Bay region.
“Ninety percent of your fatalities in these tropical systems are from water — it’s storm surge, it’s rain,” National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said.
Graham emphasized the system’s slow speed at a Wednesday briefing, saying it would take about 24 hours after landfall for Ian to cross Florida. He also urged residents to use caution and follow instructions if using gas generators, which have also caused storm-related deaths in past hurricanes.
The precise location of landfall was still uncertain, but with Ian’s tropical storm-force winds extending 280 kilometers from its center, flash flooding was possible across the state. Isolated tornadoes were leaving the storm long before landfall, one of which damaged small planes and a hangar at North Perry Airport, west of Hollywood along the Atlantic coast.
More damaging winds could hit a rapidly developing coastline where the population has grown sevenfold since 1970, according to the U.S. Census, which shows Lee County has experienced the eighth-highest population growth among more than 180 counties of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in the last 50. years.
There were 250,000 people in mandatory evacuation zones in Fort Myers/Lee County, and officials worried before the storm how many would leave.
“This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said early Wednesday. “This is going to be a tough stretch.”
Zuram Rodriguez surveys the damage around his mobile home in Davie, Florida, north of Miami, early Wednesday. Hurricane Ian was already packing significant winds to South Florida before making landfall in the state. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/The Associated Press)
Floridians rushed to board up their homes, hide precious belongings upstairs and flee.
“You can’t do anything about natural disasters,” said Vinod Nair, who drove inland from the Tampa area Tuesday with his wife, son, dog and two kittens looking for a hotel in the district tourist of Orlando. “We live in a high-risk area, so we thought it was best to evacuate.”
Nair and his family were among at least 2.5 million Florida residents ordered to evacuate in anticipation of a powerful storm surge, strong winds and flooding rains.
Power cuts are expected
Florida Power and Light warned those in Ian’s path to prepare for days without power. As a precaution, hundreds of residents were being evacuated from several nursing homes in the Tampa area, where hospitals were also transferring some patients.
Tropical storm-force winds of 63 km/h reached Florida at 3 a.m., and hurricane-force winds were reported in Florida at 6 a.m., well before the eyewall of the storm was moving inland, the Miami-based center said.
Forecasters said the storm surge could reach 12 feet (3.6 meters) at high tide. Rainfall near the landing area could exceed 18 inches.
A man walks away from the beach early Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, an area expected to take a significant hit from the storm. (Marco Bello/Reuters)
Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West airports closed. Disney World and Sea World theme parks in Orlando closed ahead of the storm.
A couple from England on vacation in Tampa found themselves facing the storm in a shelter. Glyn and Christine Williams, from London, were told to leave their hotel near the beach when evacuations were ordered. Because the airport closed, they couldn’t get a flight home.
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“Unfortunately, all the hotels are full or closed, so it looks like we’ll be in one of the shelters,” Christine Williams said.
“You know, you have to go with the flow,” added Glyn Williams. “So we’re very happy doing what we’re doing.”
Georgia, South Carolina also on alert
Parts of Georgia and South Carolina could also see flooding rains and some coastal upwelling through Saturday. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp preemptively declared an emergency, putting 500 National Guard troops on standby to respond if needed.
Before turning toward Florida, Ian pummeled Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province with sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h), wreaking havoc on the island nation’s famed tobacco belt.
It should also be emphasized that
Widespread major and record river flooding expected across C Florida & ; considerable flooding extending into SE Georgia and coastal South Carolina. pic.twitter.com/fFqNpV4QF2
—@NHC_Atlantic
Local government broadcaster TelePinar reported heavy damage to the main hospital in the city of Pinar del Rio, tweeting photos of collapsed roofs, widely hurled debris and downed trees. No deaths were recorded.
Ian’s winds damaged one of Cuba’s most important tobacco farms, Finca Robaina.
“It was apocalyptic, a real disaster,” said Hirochi Robaina, owner of the estate that bears his name and that his grandfather made known internationally.
Authorities were working overnight to gradually restore service to the country’s 11 million inhabitants, according to a statement from the Cuban Electric Union.