Florida bracing for Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian is gathering strength and bearing down on Florida as the state races to finalize storm preparations and evacuate its most at-risk people ahead of expected landfall on Wednesday.
The enormous, Category 3 storm was already bringing impacts to Key West on Tuesday after it lashed Cuba with heavy rain and winds overnight and threatened storm surge, flash flooding and landslides.
Governor Ron DeSantis urged Floridians to heed warnings to evacuate to higher ground due to potential for “‘catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge”. As of Tuesday, 2.5 million people in Florida were under evacuation orders.
The most recent weather models have the hurricane projected to make landfall south of Tampa Bay where storm surge could reach up to 12 ft (3.7 metres). Up to 24 inches (61cm) of rain is expected in some areas and wind speeds of 130 miles per hour (209km/h).
Emergency officials were warning that the life-threatening conditions would limit the potential for rescues once the storm arrived.
“You will be on your own,” St Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch warned.
‘Extremely dangerous major hurricane’: National Hurricane Center issues 2pm update
The US National Hurricane Center issued its latest update at 2pm (Eastern time) on Tuesday with the major takeaway that Ian was growing stronger stronger in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricane Ian is moving north at about 10 mph (17 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue today, forecasters reported.
A turn toward the north-northeast with a reduction in forward speed is forecast on Tuesday night into Wednesday. On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to move over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico today, pass west of the Florida Keys later tonight, and approach the west coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area on Wednesday and Wednesday night.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 120 mph (195 km/h) with higher gusts. Ian is a Category 3 hurricane and restrengthening is expected later today through Wednesday. Ian is forecast to approach the west coast of Florida as an extremely dangerous major hurricane.
Photos emerge of Hurricane Ian’s impacts on Cuba
Hurricane Ian has crashed into Cuba as a major storm.
Ian made landfall at 4.30am (EDT) on Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, rushed in emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in the nation’s main tobacco-growing region.
The US National Hurricane Center said “significant wind and storm surge impacts” occurred Tuesday morning in western Cuba. Ian struck with sustained top winds of 125 mph (205 km/h). As much as 14 feet (4.3 meters) of storm surge was predicted along Cuba’s coast.
Ian was forecast to strengthen even more over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, reaching top winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) as it approaches Florida’s southwest coast.
Fallen utility poles line a street after Hurricane Ian hit Pinar del Rio, Cuba on Tuesday
(AP)
Debris hang on the street as Hurricane Ian passes through Pinar del Rio, Cuba on Tuesday
(REUTERS)
Key West begins to feel the impacts from Hurricane Ian
Waves were already crashing into the famous Southernmost Point in the United States early on Tuesday afternoon as the bands of Hurricane Ian began to impact Florida.
Videos were shared of social media of waves crashing over the sea wall.
As of midday Tuesday (EST), the storm was moving at 10mph over Havana in the direction of Key West with maximum sustained winds of about 115mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane hunters film eye of the storm
Footage from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows a plane flying into Hurricane Ian’s eye as it approaches Florida over the Caribbean.
“Hurricane hunters” are pilots who fly into the tropical storm systems to gather data and monitor the weather.
Fire at Kennedy Space Centre
Nasa has reported a small fire in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on Tuesday morning but says the Artemis I rocket was “not at risk.”
The agency had to move the rocket inside over the weekend as Hurricane Ian moves in toward the state. The planned take-off earlier this month was cancelled after mechanical issues.
The Kennedy Space Centre is on Florida’s Atlantic Coast and is forecast to see high winds and rain after the hurricane hits the other side of the state and moves eastward.
Orlando airport to close
The Orlando International Airport announced that commercial service will stop at 10:30 AM local time on Wednesday as Hurricane Ian moves inland.
The airport asked passengers to refer to their individual airlines for flight status.
The Orlando area will not face the worst of the storm, but will still see significant wind, rain and flooding potential as it moves in from the coast starting Wednesday morning.
Satellite images reveal monstrous Category 3 Hurricane Ian from space
Hurricane Ian’s centre is currently over Cuba, but the storm is already starting to bring rain to parts of Florida ahead of landfall later on Tuesday into Wednesday morning.
The storm is hundreds of miles wide, and satellite images have captured some of the shocking size as it swallows the Gulf of Mexico in wind and rainclouds.
The storm was passing over western Cuba on Tuesday and is expected to further strengthen before hitting Florida
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell says she is worried about complacency in people who have maybe ridden out a storm before or haven’t had a serious impact before, and urges residents to heed evacuation orders and listen to local officials.
“We have less time for states to give evacuation orders,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said on Tuesday, as hurricanes intensify rapidly.
As the climate crisis spikes ocean and air temperatures, it could create more rapidly intensifying storms as the systems move over warm areas – conditions that can lead to powerful storms.
“Do not underestimate the potential,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell warned people in Hurricane Ian’s path.
She urged residents to be as prepared as they can be to help federal disaster response efforts.