Tampa, Sept 28 (ABC): Hurricane Ian strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it headed towards the US state of Florida on Wednesday, with forecasters warning of life-threatening storm surges and “devastating” winds after it reportedly killed two and left millions without power in Cuba. As of 5 am (0900 GMT), mandatory evacuation orders had been issued in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with voluntary evacuation recommended in several others, according to the state’s emergency officials.
In an advisory issued around the same time, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said “Ian has strengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane.” “Very recent data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 140 mph (220 km/h) with higher gusts,” the NHC said. The storm was expected to make landfall later on Wednesday before moving across central Florida and emerging in the western Atlantic by late Thursday.
The NHC said earlier that a “life-threatening storm surge is expected along the Florida west coast and the Lower Florida Keys,” with “devastating wind damage” expected near Ian’s core. “Catastrophic flooding is expected across portions of central Florida with considerable flooding in southern Florida, northern Florida, southeastern Georgia and coastal South Carolina,” it said. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday night that 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. Calls to heed evacuation warnings were echoed by US President Joe Biden, who earlier said Ian “could be a very severe hurricane, life-threatening and devastating in its impact.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had spoken with DeSantis — a potential 2024 election challenger — on Tuesday evening to discuss preparations for the storm.
