SARASOTA, Florida, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Hurricane Ian intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm on Wednesday as it neared Florida’s Gulf Coast, with residents emptying grocery shelves, shutting down windows and fleeing to evacuation shelters.
In an update, the US National Hurricane Center placed Ian’s location about 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Punta Gorda, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (250 km per hour).
On upgrading Ian an to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane, the NHC said the storm is expected to weaken somewhat after making landfall.
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“The storm is here,” Florida Emergency Management Division Director Kevin Guthrie said, warning of widespread power outages and the possibility of tornadoes.
“Stay inside. Stay away from windows,” he told an early morning news conference.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that residents of Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties could no longer be safely evacuated and urged people to pull off the roads and stay indoors.
“It’s time to pull back and prepare for this storm. It’s a powerful storm that should be treated like a tornado approaching your home,” he said. “It’s going to be a really bad day or two. It’s going to be tough.”
Ian pounded Cuba on Tuesday and left the entire Caribbean island nation without power, and was due to crash land in Florida on Wednesday night south of Tampa Bay somewhere between Sarasota and Naples.
Wednesday’s first hurricane advisory had put Ian’s maximum sustained winds at nearly 120 mph (195 km per hour), classifying it as a Category 3, but said the storm was expected to strengthen.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center warned that Ian would also trigger crashing waves, life-threatening coastal flooding and more than a foot of rain in some areas.
Authorities have urged more than 2.5 million residents to evacuate their homes to higher ground.
Florida’s most at-risk coastal area for landing in the United States is home to miles of sandy beaches, dozens of resort hotels and numerous mobile home parks, a favorite of retirees and vacationers.
“We’re right on the water, along a canal, so … it could be devastating,” said Melissa Wolcott Martino, 78, a retired magazine editor in St Petersburg, as she and her husband loaded valuables and pets into their car to drive to their son’s home in North Tampa on Tuesday.
Late Tuesday night, tropical storm-force winds generated by Ian spread across the Florida Keys island chain to the southernmost shores of the state’s Gulf Coast, the NHC said. .
The NHC also issued storm surge warnings for much of Florida’s west coastline, predicting coastal flooding of up to 12 feet from high wind-driven waves.
“Now is the time to evacuate. Hit the road,” Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said at a Tuesday night news conference, urging residents to heed evacuation warnings. .
DeSantis had warned Tuesday night that evacuation would become difficult for those waiting much longer to flee as increasing winds would soon force authorities to close highway bridges.
URGENCY AND COMPLAISE
“You have to get to higher ground, you have to get to safe structures,” DeSantis said, adding that widespread power outages would leave millions without power once the storm hits.
The head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, said she was concerned that too few Florida residents were taking the threat seriously.
“I’m concerned about complacency,” Criswell said Tuesday. “We’re talking about impacts in a part of Florida that hasn’t had a major direct impact in almost 100 years. There are also parts of Florida where there are a lot of new residents.”
If Ian hits the Tampa area, it would be the first hurricane to make landfall there since the Tarpon Springs storm in 1921.
It may also prove to be one of the costliest, with data modeling service Enki Research predicting storm-related damages ranging from $38 billion to more than $60 billion.
Ian crossed the southeastern edge of the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida after battering Cuba, knocking out the power grid for 11 million people and ravaging the western end of the island with high winds and flooding.
Cuba has slowly begun to restore electricity to the east of the island, the public electricity supplier announced on Wednesday.
Cuba’s already fragile grid, largely dependent on antiquated Soviet-era oil-fired power plants, had collapsed for months before the storm. But officials said Hurricane Ian proved too big, knocking out power even in far eastern Cuba, which was largely unaffected by the storm.
In Florida, to ease congestion during evacuations, authorities suspended tolls along major freeways in central areas of the state and the Tampa Bay area.
Some residents, like Vanessa Vazquez, 50, a software engineer in St. Petersburg, said they planned to ride out the storm at home despite evacuation warnings.
“I’m staying put,” Vazquez said. “I have four cats and I don’t want to stress them. And we have a solid home.”
FROM SCHOOLS TO SHELTERS
Nearly 60 Florida school districts had canceled classes due to the hurricane, DeSantis said. More than 175 evacuation centers have been opened across the state, including many school buildings converted into shelters.
“This is a mobile home community, and they really need that shelter,” said Fabiola Galvan Leon, a preschool teacher acting as a bilingual translator for hundreds of evacuees who have flocked to the Reddick Elementary School in Wimauma, southeast of Tampa.
Commercial airlines reported more than 2,000 flight cancellations in the United States related to the storm, with St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport and Tampa International Airport closed on Tuesday.
The shelves at a nearby Walmart store had been nearly stripped, although some shoppers strolled the aisles hastily grabbing the last cans of water, canned goods and loaves of bread.
The Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) announced it was closing its Florida theme and water parks on Wednesday and Thursday as the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved to Miami, where they will train this week before their game against the Kansas City Chiefs. on Sunday.
The storm’s approach also disrupted the Gulf Coast’s energy industry as personnel were evacuated from 14 rigs and production platforms, shutting down about 11% of the region’s oil production.
Read more:
FEMA warns Florida against complacency as Hurricane Ian approaches
Worst hurricanes in Florida history as Ian takes aim
How climate change is fueling hurricanes
US offshore oil production plummets as Hurricane Ian takes aim
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Reporting by Brad Brooks in Sarasota; additional reporting from Maria Alejandra Cardona in Tampa, Rich McKay in Atlanta, Steve Holland, Brendan O’Brien and Tyler Clifford in Washington and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Mark Heinrich
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