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Hurricane Ian prepares to make «catastrophic» landfall in Florida

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  • Hurricane Ian reaches near Category 5 winds as the storm approaches Florida.
  • FEMA officials warned that storm will have a «catastrophic impact» on the state.
  • In Tampa Bay the sea water began to recede as the hurricane approaches.

Hurricane Ian’s most damaging winds began pummeling Florida’s southwestern coast on Wednesday, lashing the state with heavy rain and unleashing a devastating storm surge after strengthening to the threshold of the most dangerous Category 5.

Driven by warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico, Ian strengthened into a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane overnight with top winds of 155 mph (250 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm trudged over a track to make landfall north of the densely populated area of ​​Fort Myers, which forecasters said could be inundated by a storm surge of up to 18 feet (5.5 meters).

Residents urged to seek shelter

hurricane ian florida
Photo: AP

«This is going to be a nasty day,» Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday morning, stressing that people in Ian’s path along the coast should head to the safest shelter possible and stay there. Ian’s center was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Naples at 10 a.m. Wednesday, as it headed toward the coast at 9 mph (15 kph). Ian’s slow pace meant the storm was expected to spend a day or more creeping up the Florida panhandle, dumping torrential rain of 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 centimeters) over a wide area that includes Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville in the northeast corner of the state.

Catastrophic storm surges could push 40 to 12 feet (12 meters) of water or more along more than 250 miles (400 kilometers) of coastline, from Bonita Beach to Englewood, the hurricane center warned.

FEMA says that Ian’s impact will be “catastrophic” in Florida

hurricane
Photo: Twitter

The director of the National Weather Service (NWS) said on Twitter that, «It is heartbreaking to see a devastating hurricane like Ian make landfall» and asked residents to seek shelter. Likewise, Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said on CNN that Hurricane Ian will have “catastrophic” impacts throughout the state of Florida.

«This is going to be a catastrophic impact, and not just where we’re going to see the storm make landfall, but we’re also very concerned about all the inland flooding because it’s going to bring a lot of rain and it’s going to move slowly,» she said. «Which means that the people who are in the way are going to experience the impacts over a long period of time,» Criswell added.

The ocean recedes just before hurricane impact

THE SEA IS PICKED UP IN TAMPA BAY
Photo: Instagram

According to a video posted by ABC News, seawater has receded into Tampa Bay as Hurricane Ian approaches. Florida Emergency Management warned residents not to go near the bay as the water will return as a dangerous storm surge and pose a life-threatening risk. To see the video click HERE.

«A storm surge is a rise in water level caused by a strong storm wind pushing water toward the shoreline,» said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. «The wind literally piles up the ocean water and pushes it toward the land,» he added. President Joe Biden said the federal government is «on alert and in action» as Hurricane Ian begins to approach Florida even earlier than expected.

Hundreds of thousands are without power in Florida

biden
Photo: Twitter

According to PowerOutage.us, more than 330,000 customers are without power in Florida due to Hurricane Ian. Lee County has the most power outages with more than 100,000 customers without power.

More than 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders, but by law no one could be forced to flee. The governor said the state has 30,000 linemen, urban search and rescue teams and 7,000 soldiers from the Florida National Guard and other places ready to help once the weather improves, according to AP.

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