Hurricane Ian has been upgraded to Category 4, meaning winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour are possible. There is one more dangerous category: number five. The hurricane will be almost strong enough for that and is only a few hours away from Florida.
The US National Hurricane Center mounts hurricanes like Ian V. On Tuesday, the storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the west coast of Cuba.
The hurricane caused a lot of damage there, particularly in the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio. All of Cuba was without power. The Cuban media has not reported any deaths so far.
The hurricane is moving north and its path is more easter than previously thought. Previous predictions assumed that Ian would make landfall in the densely populated area of the US capital, Tampa. It now appears to be arriving south in the Sarasota area, probably around 8 p.m. our afternoon.
The forecast path of the hurricane
Some escape routes are already closed
On the west coast of Florida, 2.5 million people were evacuated from the coast for fear of storm, high waves from the sea and flooding that brought torrential rain. As of Wednesday morning, about 100,000 people in the state had no power.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said some escape routes such as bridges have already been closed, making it impossible to escape everywhere within Florida. CNN. “It’s time to take cover and prepare for this storm,” DeSantis said. The governor calls on Ian to be treated like a hurricane.
