Live Updates: Hurricane Ian forecast to hit Florida as Category 3 storm

Michael Brennan, acting deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told CBS News people in Florida should follow evacuation orders from their local officials as Hurricane Ian heads toward the state's west coast.

"If you live in one of these storm surge evacuation zones and you've been asked to leave, please do so because your window to prepare and get ready for the storm essentially is going to be closing later today, and by tonight, you're going to need to be where you're going to ride out the storm," Brennan said.

Brennan said Tuesday morning the storm surge threat applies to the state's west coast from north of Tampa to Collier County in the southern part of the state, a large area that includes Fort Myers, Naples, Port Charlotte and Sarasota.

Ian's winds could damage homes and cause widespread power outages, Brennan said.

Hurricane Ian is forecast to make landfall Wednesday evening in Venice, Florida, south of Tampa, Kevin Guthrie, director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said at a press conference Tuesday morning. It is expected to hit as a Category 3 storm.

"The National Hurricane Center is now predicting that landfall will be Venice in 35 hours, at 125 mph ... making it a major, Category 3, landfalling hurricane," Guthrie said at the press conference, which was held at 9 a.m. Tuesday. 

Guthrie said the best option for many people in the southwest Florida area is to evacuate across the state. 

"Just go straight across the state to Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach. Don't try to go north," he said, nothing that this will help ease traffic. 

Residents can find out if they live in an evacuation zone by visiting FloridaDisaster.org/know or FloridaDisaster.org/planprepare, he said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge will be seen in some areas as Hurricane Ian hits the state's west coast on Wednesday.

He urged people to heed evacuation orders, which identify people living in areas that are vulnerable to major storm surge. People evacuating don't need to go to another state, he noted, saying shelters are open in other parts of Florida. 

"Impacts will be far, far broader than where of the eye makes landfall," he said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

Mandatory and voluntary orders have been issued for Hillsborough County, Florida, which is home to Tampa. 

Zone A in the county is under a mandatory evacuation notice and Zone B is under a voluntary evacuation notice.

"Those living in mobile and manufactured homes are encouraged to evacuate as well," the county tweeted Monday. 

Evacuation zones can be seen in this interactive evacuation assessment tool. 

The center of Hurricane Ian is moving north over western Cuba Tuesday morning, with tropical storm force winds extending outward 115 miles. The storm made landfall at 4:30 a.m. ET 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 Cuba's main tobacco-growing region.

Cuba's capital was getting rain and strong gusts, and Havana's residents openly worried about flooding ahead of the storm, with workers unclogging storm drains and fishermen taking their boats out of the water.

"I am very scared because my house gets completely flooded, with water up to here," Adyz Ladron said, pointing to his chest.

In Havana's El Fanguito, a poor neighborhood near the Almendares River, residents packed up what they could.

"I hope we escape this one because it would be the end of us. We already have so little," health worker Abel Rodrigues said.

Ian's forward movement was expected to slow over the gulf, enabling the hurricane to grow wider and stronger before it brings punishing wind and water to Florida's west coast.