Hurricane Ian could hit Florida as Cat 4 storm after wiping out power supply to Cuba
28 September 2022, 09:50 | Updated: 28 September 2022, 10:01
Hurricane Ian is set to hit Florida after having torn through all of Cuba and wiped out power supply.
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The hurricane is expected to get even stronger over the warm Gulf of Mexico, reaching top winds of 130mph as it approaches the southwestern coast of Florida, where 2.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate.
It is expected to crash ashore on Wednesday evening as a potentially deadly Category 4 hurricane.
A Category 4 storm - on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale - carries winds of up to 130 miles per hour.
The first hurricane advisory on Wednesday put Ian's maximum sustained winds near 120mph, ranking it a Category 3, but the storm is expected to strengthen.
"The time to evacuate is now. Get on the road," Florida's director of emergency management, Kevin Guthrie, said during a news briefing on Tuesday evening, urging residents to escape while they could.
Governor Ron DeSantis warned late Tuesday night that evacuation would become difficult for those who waited much longer to flee because increasing winds would soon force authorities to close highway bridges.
"You need to get to higher ground, you need to get to structures that are safe," Mr DeSantis said, adding that widespread power outages would leave millions without electricity once the storm strikes.
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Tens of thousands of people were previously evacuated form Cuba and others fled the area ahead of the arrival of the hurricane, which caused flooding, damaged houses and blew toppled trees.
Officials have since set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, and took steps to protect crops, especially tobacco.
The winds damaged one of Cuba's most important tobacco farms in La Robaina.
"It was apocalyptic, a real disaster," said Hirochi Robaina, owner of the farm that bears his name and that his grandfather made known internationally.
As the storm's centre moved into the Gulf, scenes of destruction emerged in Cuba.
Authorities are still assessing the damage, although no victims had been reported by Tuesday night.
