Hurricane Ian is a Category 3 hurricane located between Cuba and the United States mainland. Tonight, Ian made landfall, and the hurricane made landfall on the west coast of Florida. “This area is not affected much by hurricanes,” says Maurice Midendorp, a meteorologist in Buenradar.
Wind speed up to 210 kilometers per hour
It is not yet clear if Ian will arrive as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. In the latter case, average winds can reach 210 kilometers per hour.
“When we have a severe storm in the Netherlands, we sometimes measure wind gusts of up to 130 kilometers per hour,” says Middendorp by comparison. “That’s enough to knock down the trees.”
In addition to wind, Florida residents should be concerned primarily with water, according to Midendorp. Up to 300 mm of rain is expected and wave height (up to 3 metres) can cause flooding in coastal municipalities. The first images of the floods are already appearing on social media while there are still hours before the cyclone makes landfall.
The last time the area was hit by a hurricane as severe as Ian was in 1921. “They were lucky,” a meteorologist from the American Weather Institute told the BBC. If Hurricane Ian hits the entire area, the area could become “unknown” within days.
Note the tornado
Hurricanes have already been observed in southern Florida. About 2.5 million Americans have been ordered or warned to evacuate. US President Joe Biden met with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last night to see how the Washington administration can help the state.
Stock up on food, water and medicine
DeSantis warned that “catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surges will occur in some areas.” He urged residents to follow evacuation orders and stock up on food, water, medicine and fuel.
He also called on 7,000 National Guard soldiers for help. The state of emergency applies throughout the state. In multiple places, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa, authorities distributed sandbags.
Meanwhile, all of Cuba is powerless. Yesterday, the cyclone knocked out electricity in part of the country, which also caused serious damage, but the authorities said they are working on it. Later it turned out that the power was cut off everywhere.
