PORT CHARLOTTE, United States — Hurricane Ian intensified to just shy of
catastrophic Category 5 strength Wednesday as its heavy winds began pummeling
the
US state of Florida, with forecasters warning of life-threatening storm
surges after leaving millions without power in Cuba.
اضافة اعلان
Mandatory
evacuation orders had been issued in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with
voluntary evacuation recommended in several others, according to the state’s
emergency officials as they girded for a potentially historic storm.
In a pre-dawn
advisory the
US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said “Ian has strengthened into
an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane,” warning later of “catastrophic
storm surge, winds, and flooding.”
At 7am (11am GMT)
it said “data from a Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained
winds have increased to near (250km/h)” — just shy of Category 5, the strongest
category on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
“This is going to
be a nasty, nasty day, two days,” Governor Ron DeSantis said early Wednesday as
he warned residents of a “rough stretch” ahead for Florida.
“It could make
landfall as a Category 5, but clearly this is a very powerful major hurricane
that’s going to have major impacts, both on ... southwest Florida but as it
continues to work through the state.”
The NHC for its
part said Ian was “rapidly intensifying”, while conditions along the Florida
coast were “rapidly deteriorating”.
Tropical
storm-strength winds were already battering the Florida Keys, as the storm was
expected to make landfall later Wednesday near Fort Myers and Port Charlotte,
along the state’s west coast, before moving across central Florida and emerging
in the Atlantic Ocean by late Thursday.
With up to 61cm of
rain expected to fall on parts of the so-called Sunshine State, and a storm
surge that could reach devastating levels 3.5–5m above ground, authorities were
warning of catastrophic conditions.
“This is a
life-threatening situation,” the NHC warned.
DeSantis said on
Tuesday night that there had already been at least two “radar-indicated
tornadoes” in the state and warned those in areas projected to be hit hardest
that their “time to evacuate is coming to an end.”
Calls to heed
evacuation warnings were echoed by US President Joe Biden, who earlier said Ian
“could be a very severe hurricane, life-threatening and devastating in its
impact”.
Widespread blackout
Ian plunged all of Cuba into darkness on Tuesday after battering the
country’s west as a Category 3 for more than five hours before moving back out
over the
Gulf of Mexico, the Insmet meteorological institute said.
The storm damaged
Cuba’s power network and left the island “without electrical service,” state
electricity company Union Electrica said.
Only the few people
with gasoline-powered generators had access to electricity on the island of more
than 11 million people. Others had to make do with flashlights or candles at
home and lit their way with cell phones as they walked the streets.
In the western city
of Pinar del Rio, AFP footage showed downed power lines, flooded streets and
damaged rooftops.
“Desolation and
destruction. These are terrifying hours. Nothing is left here,” a 70-year-old
resident of the city was quoted as saying in a social media post by his
journalist son, Lazaro Manuel Alonso.
About 40,000 people
were evacuated across Pinar del Rio province, which bore the brunt of the
storm, local authorities said.
Cuban residents
described “destruction” and posted images on social media of flooded streets
and felled trees.
At least two people
died in Pinar del Rio province, Cuban state media reported.
‘Life and death’
In the US, the Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been called up
in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.
Authorities in
several municipalities were distributing sandbags to help residents protect
their homes from flooding.
Tampa International
Airport suspended operations from Tuesday at 5 pm.
NASA, on the
state’s east coast, also took precautions, rolling back its massive moon rocket
into a storage hanger for protection.
Like DeSantis, FEMA
administrator
Deanne Criswell highlighted the danger of storm surge, saying it
was the agency’s “biggest concern”.
“If people are told to evacuate by their local officials,
please listen to them. The decision you choose to make may be the difference
between life and death,” she said.
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