‘Apocalyptic’ Hurricane Ian reaches Category 4 as it bears down on Florida: Winds hit 140mph and power is out for 17,000 houses before it makes landfall after first pummeling Cuba killing two and taking out island’s electricity
- Hurricane Ian reaches a catastrophic Category Four as it inches closer to the west coast of Florida at 10mph
- Devastating winds and flooding are predicted, with winds of up to 130mph (209kph) causing destruction
- Governor Ron DeSantis warned residents in the areas predicted to be hardest hit that now is their last chance to get to safety
- Two have died and more than 11 million are without power on Cuba after the first strong winds of the powerful storm pounded its south coast late on Monday
- Photos show the extent of the damage left in the ‘extremely dangerous’ hurricane’s wake as it makes its way north toward the Sunshine State
- Speaking at an emergency press briefing Sunday afternoon, DeSantis, 44, echoed these sentiments, urging citizens to take precautionary measures
- The address saw the Republican invoke a statewide state of emergency, and forewarn 21 million residents the storm will likely become a ‘major hurricane’
Hurricane Ian has swelled into a catastrophic Category Four storm as it bears down on Florida’s west coast Wednesday with winds hitting 140mph and 17,000 already houses without power, hours after the storm left two dead and laid waste to parts of Cuba.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 5am Wednesday that Ian now has exceeded fears of top winds of 130 mph (210kph) and is centered about 75 miles (125 kilometers) west-southwest of Naples, Florida. Ian is moving north at a forward speed of 10 mph (17kph), they added.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued late in the night in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with voluntary evacuation recommended in several others, according to the state’s emergency officials.
The major hurricane has prompted warnings of a possible dangerous storm surge, deadly winds and flooding along the state’s heavily populated Gulf Coast from Bonita Beach to the Tampa Bay region. Florida residents have rushed to board up their homes, stash precious belongings on upper floors and flee.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday there had already been at least two ‘radar-indicated tornadoes’ in the state, and warned those in areas projected to be hit hardest that their ‘time to evacuate is coming to an end.’
‘You need to evacuate now. You’re going to start feeling major impacts of this storm relatively soon,’ he said.
More than 11 million in Cuba are without power after the initial winds of the powerful then-Category 3 storm pounded the island’s south coast late Monday into Tuesday, killing two and causing the electrical system to experience a total collapse.
Photos show the extent of the damage left in the ‘extremely dangerous’ hurricane’s wake as it makes its way north toward the Sunshine State – where meteorologists have warned that it should make landfall around 4pm.
Key updates as follows:
- Hurricane Ian has strengthened to a Category Four hurricane, hours before it is expected to hit Florida’s west coast this afternoon
- Devastating winds are expected of up to 130mph are expected to ravage coastal areas to be followed by catastrophic flooding
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned residents in areas predicted to be hardest hit that now is their last chance to evacuate before the ‘life-threatening’ storm hits
- He said there had already been at least two ‘radar-indicated tornadoes’ in the state as the hurricane headed north
- Ian has already laid waste to parts of Cuba, killing two and leaving the island entirely without power after the electrical system collapsed
- Republican DeSantis spoke with President Biden by telephone to discuss preparations for the storm, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
Scroll down for video:
People take photos on their phones as huge waves pound Key West as Category Four Hurricane Ian bears down on the west coast of the panhandle
A hotel in Havana, Cuba, relies on an oil-powered generator for electricity after Ian knocked out the island nation’s entire electrical system when it hit on Monday and Tuesday, leaving two dead
After first bracing for the rapidly burgeoning storm Monday night, thousands of Cubans awoke to their houses destroyed and neighborhoods flooded – with more than 11 million without any electricity
DeSantis, 44 invoked a statewide state of emergency Sunday, with transportation bridges across the state set to close today, and 30,000 workers are on standby to help once Florida’s power grid inevitably topples in Ian’s wrath, DeSantis said.
‘It is a big storm, it is going to kick up a lot of water as it comes in,’ DeSantis said in Sarasota, a coastal city of 57,000 in the storm’s projected path. He warned at a news conference: ‘This the kind of storm surge that is life threatening.’
The Florida governor warned residents to prepare for impact, especially those in mobile homes along the west coast, which might be designed for Category Three hurricanes and 100mph winds, but may not be able to withstand what is coming.
‘You have in southwest Florida, really throughout the state, but really throughout the communities that may get hit with the initial impact of the eye of the storm, you have a lot of mobile homes,’ DeSantis said.
‘You have folks, and actually the way those are done, they can actually withstand 100 mile per hour winds, maybe 110 to be certified.
‘But you’re looking at a Category 3 that is strengthening, it will become a Category 4 storm, and it may be a Category 4 storm when it makes impact in what looks to be Southwest Florida. And that is not a risk you want to be taking.’
‘It’s important to point out to folks that the path of this is still uncertain. The impacts will be broad throughout the state of Florida,’ the governor said on the live, emergency broadcast aired across the state.
‘Expect heavy rains, strong winds, flash flooding, storm surge and even isolated tornados. Make preparations now,’ he said, adding that residents should anticipate power outages, fuel disruptions, and even evacuations in certain areas.
The announcement came after DeSantis had earlier declared a state of emergency in 24 counties in his home state, with President Biden over the weekend invoking his own emergency edict for the Everglades State, delaying scheduled trip to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
Those orders have so far seen roughly 2.5 million Floridians ordered to evacuate their homes, as officials scramble to prepare for the storm’s now-inevitable US landfall – with the situation in Cuba serving as a stark warning of what may be to come.
Locals were told last night was their final chance to escape their homes ahead of Ian’s wrath. The Florida Keys have already felt Ian’s wrath as an early warning system for the mainland. Videos show palm trees battered by hurricane force winds and homes and businesses flooded by two feet of water.
After first bracing for the rapidly burgeoning storm Monday night, thousands of Cubans awoke to their houses destroyed and neighborhoods flooded – with more than 11 million without any electricity.
As millions of Floridians rush to make the necessary preparations, though, Cubans have already bore the brunt of the turbulent tempest, with many cities ripped apart by blazing 120 mph winds
Cuban residents reported ‘apocalyptic’ damage after Hurricane Ian pummeled the island for more than five hours
The US National Hurricane Center reported Ian’s maximum wind speeds at 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, making the storm a Category 3 when it slammed Cuba
The storm damaged Cuba’s power network and plunged the island into darkness, leaving it ‘without electrical service,’ state electricity company Union Electrica said on Twitter after the storm hit the island’s western regions for more than five hours early Tuesday morning.
The hurricane proceeded to move out over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Insmet meteorological institute said – with areas of Florida now experiencing strong winds and flooding as the storm looms just a few hundred miles off-coast.
As millions of Floridians rush to make the necessary preparations, though, Cubans have already bore the brunt of the turbulent tempest, with many cities ripped apart by blazing 120 mph winds.
Only the few people with gasoline-powered generators had access to electricity on the island.
Others had to make do with flashlights or candles at home, and lit their way with cell phones as they walked the streets, photos show.
Hurricane Ian left a trail of destruction and caused a nationwide blackout after hitting Cuba Tuesday, spurring Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, declaring a state of emergency to warn citizens to expect more of the same – if not worse – when the storm hits Wednesday
More than 11 million on the Caribbean island nation are without power after the first strong winds of the powerful storm pounded its south coast late on Monday, carrying over into the next day. Pictured is the El Capitolio Nacional building in Havana during the mass blackout
Only the few people with gasoline-powered generators had access to electricity on the island – which possesses a population of more than 11 million. Others had to make do with flashlights or candles at home, and lit their way with cell phones as they walked the streets, photos show.
A Cuban man uses his cell phone on a street in Havana during a blackout on Tuesday
The state electric company Unión Eléctrica de Cuba had earlier said they would turn off power in the capital Havana to avoid electrocutions, deaths, and property damage while the island waited out the anticipated storm – however, the storm went on to cause the blackouts itself, throwing the entire country into disarray.
Compounding the situation is the fact that Cuba has been in an economic crisis since the early days of the pandemic, that has led to widespread shortages of food, fuel, and medicine.
The magnitude of this crisis, however, has yet to be seen in the country, and could lead to further protests against the local government.
In the western city of Pinar del Rio, footage showed downed power lines, flooded streets and a scattering of damaged rooftops.
‘Desolation and destruction. These are terrifying hours. Nothing is left here,’ a 70-year-old resident of the city was quoted as saying in a social media post by his journalist son, Lazaro Manuel Alonso.
People in the US state of Florida prepare for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Ian
A boarded up home in Florida as DeSantis declared a state of emergency in all of the southern US state’s 67 counties as officials scrambled to prepare for the storm’s arrival
About 40,000 people were evacuated across Pinar del Rio province – a tobacco-rich region in western Cuba – which bore the brunt of the storm, local authorities said.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it expects Ian to gain strength before hitting the west coast of Florida on Wednesday as an ‘extremely dangerous’ major hurricane.
Calls to heed evacuation warnings were echoed from local Florida officials on up to US President Joe Biden, who said Ian ‘could be a very severe hurricane, life-threatening and devastating in its impact.’
In its latest bulletin, the NHC said to be prepared for ‘life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding’ in the Florida peninsula.
Tropical-storm-force winds are already battering the Florida Keys, the chain of islands off the southern tip of the state’s mainland, the NHC said.
In Cuba, authorities are just beginning to assess the damage, but residents described ‘destruction’ and posted images on social media of flooded streets and felled trees.
At the time of impact, the NHC reported Ian’s maximum wind speeds at 125 miles per hour, making it a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Wind speeds have since dropped slightly to 120 miles per hour.
No deaths or injuries have yet been reported.
Category 3 Hurricane Ian
The storm is already causing huge waves to batter Florida Keys coastline, with many resorts already being flooded on the coast
In Consolacion del Sur, southwest of Havana, Caridad Fernandez, 65, said her roof was seriously damaged and water came through her front door.
‘Everything we have is damaged,’ she said. ‘But we’ll get through this, we’ll just keep moving forwards.’
In San Juan y Martinez, a growing hub for Cuba’s vital cigar industry, ‘it was apocalyptic, a real disaster,’ Hirochi Robaina, from the Robaina tobacco plantation, said on Facebook.
DeSantis warned that although Ian’s exact path was still uncertain ‘the impacts will be far far broader.’
‘When you have five to ten feet of storm surge that is not something that you want to be a part of. Mother Nature is a very fearsome adversary,’ DeSantis said.
A woman walked her dog through the rising floodwater as the tide rises in Key West, Florida on Tuesday
Storm drains in Miami are currently overflowing with the amount of heavy rainfall that has lashed the city in the past 24 hours
Vehicles in Brickell, Florida, battled to get out of the heavily flooded roads as others were taking precautions to protect their properties
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden spoke with DeSantis – a potential 2024 election challenger — on Tuesday evening to discuss preparations for the storm.
The NHC warned that ‘widespread catastrophic flash, urban, and river flooding is expected across central and west Florida beginning midweek.’
Thirty-year-old Chelsea Thompson, who was helping her parents board up their home in a mandatory evacuation zone southwest of Tampa, said that ‘the closer it gets, obviously with the unknown, your anxiety gets a little higher.’
The Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been called up in Florida, with an additional 1,800 coming later.
Authorities in several municipalities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, were distributing free sandbags to help residents protect their homes from flooding.
Residents in Florida are capturing the storm clouds as the first signs of hurricane Ian hit the Sunshine State on Tuesday, with winds of up to 140mph expected
A man, along with his Macaw and cat, prepares his sailboat on the Davis Islands yacht basin in Tampa, Florida
Tampa General Hospital has created an aqua wall around the entire hospital in preparation for Hurricane Ian to protect patients and equipment
And Tampa International Airport suspended operations from Tuesday at 5:00pm.
Biden has preemptively approved emergency aid in Florida through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while even NASA on the state’s east coast took precautions, rolling back its massive Moon rocket into a storage hanger for protection.
Like DeSantis, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell highlighted the danger of storm surge, saying it was the agency’s ‘biggest concern.’
‘If people are told to evacuate by their local officials, please listen to them. The decision you choose to make may be the difference between life and death,’ she said.
The Caribbean and parts of eastern Canada are still counting the cost of powerful storm Fiona, which tore through last week, claiming several lives.
Half a million residents in the US territory of Puerto Rico were still without power, according to a tracking website.
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