WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (BNA): Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida near Cayo Costa on Wednesday as a catastrophic Category 4 storm, according to the Associated Press.
About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before the storm hit the coast with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph).
It was heading inland, where it was expected to weaken, at 9 mph (14 km/h), but residents in Central Florida still struggled with hurricane-force winds.
Before making its way across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida, Hurricane Ian hit western Cuba as a major hurricane on Tuesday, killing two people and destroying the country’s power grid.
The center of the massive Category 4 storm remained offshore for hours, which likely means more rain and damage from a hurricane that was on a path that would bring it down north of the densely populated Fort Myers area.
Forecasters warned that catastrophic storms could push 12 to 18 feet (3.6 to 5.5 meters) of water across more than 250 miles (400 kilometers) of coast, from Bonita Beach to Englewood.
Fueled by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Ian grew into a Category 4 hurricane overnight with maximum winds of 155 mph (250 km/h), on the threshold of the most serious Category 5 state, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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