A flooded street is seen in downtown as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwestern Florida, in Fort Myers, Florida, US, Sept. 28, 2022. (Reuters)Hurricane Ian Today, Hurricane Ian in Florida Live Updates: Hurricane Ian plowed into Florida’s Gulf Coast with catastrophic force, leaving over 2.2 lakh without power and prompting two major airports in the region to cancel flights. The Category 4 storm brought with it howling winds, torrential rains and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that made it one of the most powerful US storms in recent years. Images on local TV and social media showed floodwaters sweeping away cars, nearly reaching rooftops in some communities.
Up to 76 cm of rain is forecast to fall on parts of central Florida as the storm moves inland, threatening to cause extensive flash floods, reported Reuters. Nearly 2 million homes and businesses statewide were without power as of an hour before sunset, utilities reported.
“This is a storm that we will talk about for many years to come, an historic event,” said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service. The sprawling, slow-moving storm pushed farther inland as darkness fell, and within six hours of landfall was downgraded to Category 2, with top sustained winds of 105 mph (170 kmh), the NHC reported.
Airlines cancelled almost 2,000 US flights for Thursday after Hurricane Ian hit Florida's Gulf Coast with catastrophic force in one of the most powerful US storms in recent years.
The hurricane is causing significant disruptions to US air travel, especially in the southeast United States. Since Tuesday airlines have cancelled more than 5,000 flights through Friday.
Airlines cancelled 2,163 flights Wednesday as a number of Florida airports temporarily halted operations, including Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota-Bradenton, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Naples and St Petersburg/Clearwater. Airline tracking website Flightaware said 1,935 flights for Thursday had been cancelled and 738 Friday flights scrapped. Airlines cancelled 403 flights Tuesday ahead of the storm. (Reuters)
Two major airports in Florida, namely the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers and the Orlando International Airport, cancelled flights and ceased functions following the hurricane, as per a New York Times report.
Four Cuban migrants swam to shore in the Florida Keys and three others were rescued from the ocean after their boat sank Wednesday, shortly before Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida.
But 20 more people might be missing, officials said.
The four Cubans reached Stock Island, just east of Key West, and reported their vessel sank because of inclement weather, US Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar said in a post on Twitter. The US Coast Guard initiated a search for 23 people and managed to find three survivors about three kilometers south of the island chain, officials said. The survivors were taken to a local hospital for symptoms of exhaustion and dehydration. Air crews continued to search for the remaining migrants. (AP)
Over 2.18 lakh people are without power in Florida, as per an update on aggregating website poweroutage.us
Hurricane Ian swamped a Florida hospital from both above and below, the storm surge flooding its lower level emergency room while fierce winds tore part of its fourth-floor roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.
Dr. Birgit Bodine spent the night at HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, anticipating the storm would make things busy, "but we didn’t anticipate that the roof would blow off on the fourth floor," she said. Water gushed down Wednesday from above onto the ICU, forcing staff to evacuate the hospital's sickest patients — some of them on ventilators — to other floors. (AP)
Hurricane Ian bludgeoned its way through southwestern Florida on Wednesday as one of the most powerful storms to ever strike the state, bringing fierce winds, unrelenting rains and drastic inundations to coastal communities that were overtaken by the surging waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Floridians braced for extensive and catastrophic damage around Fort Myers, near where Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm, with winds up to 150 mph, at approximately 3.05 pm. But a huge stretch of coastline from Naples to Sarasota appeared severely affected by lapping brown waves that drowned streets, cars and homes as frightened residents sought refuge.
Amid reports of severe flooding, videos on social media showed members of Naples Fire Rescue rescuing people from a stranded car in waist-high flood water during Hurricane Ian.
Hurricane Ian plowed into Florida's Gulf Coast with catastrophic force on Wednesday, unleashing howling winds, torrential rains and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that made it one of the most powerful US storms in recent years.
Crashing ashore as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 241 kph, Ian quickly transformed an idyllic stretch of sandy beaches and coastal towns into a disaster zone inundated by seawater.
Early video images of the storm's fury on local TV and social media showed floodwaters sweeping away cars, nearly reaching rooftops in some communities and the ruins of homes as palm trees were bent almost in half. (Reuters)
More from World
Climate change is making hurricanes wetter, windier and more intense. There is also evidence that it is causing storms to travel more slowly, meaning they can dump more water in one place, scientists say.
"Hurricane Ian's rapid intensification could prove to be another example of how a warming planet is changing hurricanes," said Kait Parker, meteorologist and climate scientist at IBM's weather.com. "Research shows we are seeing this far more often than we did in decades past." (Reuters)
Due to Hurricane Ian, NASA and SpaceX are now targeting the launch of the agency’s Crew5 mission on October 4, 12,23 pm EDT with a backup opportunity on October 5.
As Floridians brace for the approaching storm, here are the five of the most deadly and destructive hurricanes to hit the state in recent years.
While Hurricane Katrina in 2005 traveled across the southern tip of Florida, most of the damage it caused was in New Orleans. Katrina still ranks as both the deadliest and most expensive hurricane in modern U.S. history. Excluding Katrina, Hurricane Irma was the costliest in Florida history, with total U.S. damage estimated at $50 billion.
Hurricane Andrew directly killed 15 people and dozens indirectly, while Hurricane Irma caused seven direct and 80 indirect deaths, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Charley (2004) was an unexpectedly powerful hurricane, rapidly developing into a Category 4 storm just before making landfall at Cayo Costa, an island of Florida's Gulf Coast. Nine people were directly killed by the storm and an estimated $6.8 billion was lost, according to the NHC.
Hurricane Michael (2018) was the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the Florida Panhandle, according to the National Weather Service. Wind and storm surge caused catastrophic damage, particularly in the Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach areas. Eight direct fatalities were reported: seven in Florida and one in Georgia. In addition, 43 indirect deaths were attributed to the storm. (Reuters)
Even as Tampa and St Petersburg are likely spared as Hurrican Ian's forward movement shifted slightly southward, water was sucked out of the bay area in Tampa in preparation for possible flooding as the hurricane got heavy winds and rains.
Cuban officials said they had begun to restore some power after Hurricane Ian knocked out electricity to the entire island while devastating some of the country's most important tobacco farms when it hit the island's western tip as a major storm.
The Energy and Mines Ministry announced it had restored energy to three regions by activating two large power plants in Felton and Nuevitas and was working to get others back on line.
But the capital, Havana, and other parts of western Cuba remained without power on Wednesday in the wake of the major hurricane, which had advanced northward to Florida. It was the first time in memory — perhaps ever — that the whole island had lost power. (AP)
More than 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in Florida, but by law no one could be forced to flee.
The governor Ron DeSantis said the state has 30,000 linemen, urban search and rescue teams, and 7,000 National Guard troops from Florida and elsewhere ready to help once the weather clears, The Associated Press reported.
Florida residents rushed ahead of the impact to board up their homes, stash precious belongings on upper floors and join long lines of cars leaving the shore. Some chose to stay and ride out the storm.
Hurricane Ian's most damaging winds began hitting Florida's southwest coast Wednesday, lashing the state with heavy rain and pushing a devastating storm surge after strengthening to the threshold of the most dangerous Category 5 status.
Fueled by warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Ian grew to a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane overnight with top winds of 155 mph (250 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.