Cuban authorities evacuate 50,000 people as the storm roars on a path that could next hit the US as a Category 4 hurricane.
Hurricane Ian has slammed into western Cuba, forcing thousands of evacuations, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of people and swamping fishing villages as it moved north towards the US state of Florida, where residents anxiously await the sprawling storm.
Ian made landfall early on Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, rushed in emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in Cuba’s main tobacco-growing region.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said “significant wind and storm surge impacts” were occurring Tuesday morning in western Cuba. Ian’s sustained top winds were 205 kilometres per hour (125 miles per hour) and as much as 4.3 metres (14 feet) of storm surge was predicted along Cuba’s coast.
Hurricane #Ian Advisory 18: Powerful Hurricane Ian Emerges Into the Southeastern Gulf Of Mexico. New Watches and Warnings Issued For Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 27, 2022
Ian was forecast to strengthen even more over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, reaching top winds of 225km per hour (140 miles per hour) as it approaches the Florida’s southwest coast. Tropical storm-force winds were expected across the southern peninsula late Tuesday, reaching hurricane force Wednesday morning.
“Right now, we’re focusing on [the] west central Florida area as the main area for impact,” hurricane specialist Andy Latto told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Hurricane Ian comes on the heels of Hurricane Fiona, a powerful storm that killed at least a dozen people, knocked out power and caused massive damage to homes and streets in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Canada.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said an estimated 2.5 million people were under evacuation orders in the state and cautioned that damage is expected across a wide area regardless of where Ian makes landfall. He urged people to prepare for power outages, and to get out of the storm’s way.
“When you have five to 10 feet of storm surge, that is not something you want to be a part of,” DeSantis said on Tuesday. “And Mother Nature is a very fearsome advisory.”
While Ian’s centre passed over western Cuba, with tropical storm force winds extending 185km (115 miles) outward, Cuba’s capital was getting rain and strong gusts on Tuesday morning. Havana residents openly worried about flooding in advance of the storm, with workers unclogging storm drains and fishermen taking their boats out of the water.
“I am very scared because my house gets completely flooded, with water up to here,” Adyz Ladron said, pointing to his chest.
Meanwhile, Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to collect bags of sand and cleared store shelves of bottled water. DeSantis has declared a statewide emergency and mobilised 5,000 Florida National Guard troops, with another 2,000 on standby in neighbouring states.
US President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorising the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property.
FEMA has strategically positioned generators, as well as millions of meals and millions of litres of water, to help, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Damaging winds and flooding are expected across the entire peninsula as Ian moves north, reaching into Georgia, South Carolina and other parts of the southeastern US between Friday and Sunday, the hurricane centre also said.
Read the full article here
