(Havana) Rain and hurricane winds Ian struck the western tip of Cuba where authorities evacuated 50,000 people. It became a major Category 3 hurricane early Tuesday and roared down the road that could see it hit Florida’s west coast as a Category 4 hurricane.
Posted at 6:23 a.m.
The storm made landfall early Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Río province, where authorities set up 55 shelters, mobilized emergency personnel and took action to protect crops in the main tobacco-growing region of Cuba. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the west coast of the island could see up to 4.3 meters of storm surge.
“Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds as well as life-threatening storm surges and heavy rain,” Daniel Brown, senior NHC specialist, told The Associated Press.
After crossing Cuba, Ian was expected to strengthen further over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before reaching Florida on Wednesday in the form of a category 4 hurricane with peak winds at 225 km / h.
On Monday, Tampa and St. Petersburg appeared to be among the likeliest targets for the first major hurricane to hit them directly since 1921.
“Please treat this storm seriously. This is the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley said Monday during a press conference about preparations for the storm in Tampa.
In Havana on Monday, fishermen were pulling their boats out of the water along the famous Malecón waterfront promenade, and city workers were unclogging storm drains ahead of the expected rain.
Adyz Ladron, a resident of Havana, said he was worried about the storm’s potential for rising waters.
“I’m very scared because my house is completely flooded, with water all the way to here,” he said pointing to his chest.
In El Fanguito, Havana, a poor neighborhood near the Almendares River, residents packed what they could to leave their homes.
“I hope we escape this one, because it would be our end. We already have so little,” said healthcare worker Abel Rodrigues.
The NHC said in a 4:30 a.m. EDT update thatIan made landfall in Cuba as it continued to strengthen, with sustained winds of 205 km/h. The center defines it as a Category 3 or greater major hurricane, which means maximum sustained winds of at least 178 km/h.
The center announced that “significant wind and storm surge impacts” were expected Tuesday morning in western Cuba.
Ian will not linger over Cuba, but will slow over the Gulf of Mexico, widening and strengthening, “which will have the potential to produce significant wind and storm surge impacts along the western coast of the Florida,” the NHC explained.
A surge of up to 3 meters of seawater and 250 mm of rain was forecast in the Tampa Bay area, with up to 380 mm in isolated areas. That’s enough water to flood coastal communities.
Up to 300,000 people could be evacuated from low-lying areas in Hillsborough County alone, county administrator Bonnie Wise said. Some of those evacuations were beginning Monday afternoon in the most vulnerable areas, with schools and other places open as shelters.
“We must do everything to protect our residents. Time is running out,” added M.me Wise.
Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to pick up sandbags and clean shelves at bottled water stores. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a statewide emergency and warned Ian could hit large areas of the state, knocking out power and disrupting fuel supplies as he whirled down north off the gulf coast of the state.
“You have a major storm that could end up being a Category 4 hurricane,” DeSantis said at a press conference. This will cause a huge storm surge. You are going to have floods. You are going to have a lot of different impacts. »
Mr. DeSantis announced that the state had suspended tolls around the Tampa Bay area and mobilized 5,000 Florida State National Guard troops, with another 2,000 on standby in neighboring states.
President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergencies Agency to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property. The president postponed a trip planned for Tuesday to Florida because of the storm.
Playing it safe, NASA planned to slowly roll its moon rocket from the launch pad to its Kennedy Space Center hangar, adding weeks of delay to the test flight.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Monday night that the football team is relocating practices to the Miami area in preparation for next weekend’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Buccaneers said the team would leave Tampa on Tuesday.
Flash flooding was forecast for much of the Florida peninsula, and heavy rain was possible for the southeastern United States later this week.
— With information from Curt Anderson, Anthony Izaguirre and Julie Walker.