the hurricane Ian began bludgeoning the western tip of Cuba on Tuesday, and there seems to be nothing left to stop it from moving to Category 4 before hitting Florida on Wednesday.
Ian had become a major Category 3 hurricane earlier in the day.
The storm made landfall at 4:30 a.m. Montreal time Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Río province, where authorities set up 55 shelters, mobilized emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in the area. main tobacco producing region of Cuba. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that 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, the National Hurricane Center’s senior 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.
Tropical storm force winds are expected late Tuesday in Florida.
Evacuations
“Right now, we’re focusing on west central Florida as the primary impact area,” hurricane expert Andy Latto told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said some 2.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate. He warned that extensive property damage is anticipated no matter where Ian makes landfall. He asked people to be prepared for power outages and to steer clear of the storm’s path.
“When we talk about storm surges [de deux mètres], it’s not something you want to face, he said on Tuesday. Mother Nature is a fierce adversary. »
The National Hurricane Center has expanded its hurricane warning to encompass Bonita Beach, Tampa Bay and Anclote River. Fort Myers is also in the hurricane zone, and Tampa and St. Petersburg could be hit by the first major hurricane 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.
storm surges
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 US Hurricane Center explained.
A storm surge of up to 3 meters of sea water is possible. It could fall between 40 and 60 centimeters of rain in some places, 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,” Ms Wise added.
A county official has warned that no one will come to the rescue of residents who choose not to evacuate.
Lee County, which includes the city of Fort Myers, ordered mandatory evacuations Tuesday morning, including for Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Bonita Beach, which have about 250,000 residents.
“Those who decide not to leave do so at their own risk,” Lee County Executive Roger Desjarlais said early Tuesday. The best thing to do is leave. With the storm surge we’re talking about, the islands could be flooded and it’s a dangerous place. The law does not allow us to expel people from the islands, but we strongly recommend that they leave. »
Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to pick up sandbags and clean shelves at bottled water stores. Governor 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 and damaging winds were forecast for an entire Florida peninsula, and heavy rain was possible for the southeastern United States later this week.