Hurricane Ian strengthened into a Category 4 storm Wednesday morning and has since made landfall on Florida’s west coast. The storm has sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, meaning it is just 2 miles per hour shy of a Category 5 hurricane, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.
Millions of people in Cuba have been left without power after the country’s power grid collapsed in the aftermath of the storm.
Cuba’s Electric Union tweeted that the country is working on getting power back to the 11 million people living in the island nation. Power is expected to be restored by Wednesday morning at the latest.
HURRICANE IAN ‘NEAR WORST-CASE SCENARIO’ AS MASSIVE STORM COULD HIT CATEGORY 4
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and President Joe Biden are coordinating on the hurricane response effort and have spoken over the phone, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
President Biden spoke this evening with Governor DeSantis of Florida to discuss the steps the Federal government is taking to help Florida prepare for Hurricane Ian. The President and the Governor committed to continued close coordination.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) September 27, 2022
On Tuesday evening, the National Weather Service in Miami confirmed that a tornado touched down in Broward County, Florida, as part of the outer bands of Ian. Additional watches and warnings are likely to be implemented as the storm gets closer to Florida.
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DeSantis declared a state of emergency for all 67 Florida counties Saturday.
Tampa Bay Area
The forecast say the Tampa Bay area will get life-threatening storm surges and hurricane force conditions, with the storm expected to make landfall south of the area.
Englewood Beach
Englewood Beach is set to get hurricane-force winds Wednesday, with the eye of the storm expected to make landfall within miles of the beach.
