Hurricane Ian strengthens to Category 4 storm as it nears Florida

Floridians were hunkering down on Wednesday, many of them in emergency shelters, as Hurricane Ian walloped the Sunshine State with rain and severe winds ahead of its arrival.

The slow-moving storm strengthened overnight to a Category 4 hurricane with maximums sustained winds of 140 mph. As of 5 a.m., Hurricane Ian was churning across the Gulf of Mexico about 75 miles west-southwest of Naples, at a speed of 10 mph.

Some residents started feeling the impacts of the storm as early as Tuesday night, with rain from Ian’s outer bands and tropical storm-strength winds striking parts of the coast. Meteorologists said conditions across the state are expected to deteriorate throughout the day Wednesday, with severe thunderstorms and intense winds in the forecast for much of central Florida before Ian barrels into the state.

The hurricane will likely make landfall as a Category 3 storm around 8 p.m. Wednesday near Venice, about 20 miles southeast of Sarasota. It’s expected to slow down as it moves ashore, dragging out impacts to western and central parts of the Florida Peninsula.

Rain totals are forecast to fall somewhere between 12 and 24 inches around Tampa and west-central Florida through Thursday night.

“In some areas there will be catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surges,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters during a press conference Tuesday.

A storm surge warning was in effect for the majority of Florida’s west coast, from Suwanee in the Big Bend region to the peninsula’s tip in the Everglades. As much as 8 to 12 feet of storm surge was predicted for large swaths of coast, from just south of Bradenton down to Bonita Beach south of Fort Myers, the hurricane center said.

A hurricane warning spanning roughly 220 miles of the state included Fort Myers as well as Tampa and St. Petersburg, where residents could face their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Key West closed. Disney World theme parks and Sea World in Orlando all closed ahead of Ian’s arrival

Hurricane Ian ripped across Cuba on Tuesday as a Category 3 storm during its slow march to Florida. It made landfall in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where 55 shelters have been set up for the thousands of people forced to evacuate.

With News Wire Services