Hurricane Ian updates: Florida counties face evacuations from category 2 storm as winds reach 100mph

The International Space Station handed excessive up above Hurricane Ian on Monday, leading to a spectacular angle on the rising storm.

The clip captures the globe-spanning spiral of the hurricane, which is heading in direction of western Cuba this night.

As Hurricane Ian makes its means in direction of the US, cities and cities throughout Florida are ready in tense anticipation.

St Pete-Clearwater International Airport introduced on Tuesday it is going to shut down on Tuesday afternoon, attributable to necessary evacuation orders in Pinellas County, which incorporates quite a few low-sitting, west-facing seashores on the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida State canceled courses for its scholar inhabitants of over 30,000, as Hurricane Ian continues to realize power.

Class will likely be out from Tuesday to Friday, whereas campus will likely be closed from Thursday to Friday, the college mentioned in an replace on Monday.

“As we continue to monitor Hurricane Ian, the safety of our FSU family remains our top priority,” college president Richard McCullough said in a press release.

Hurricane Ian is now a category 2 storm with sustained winds of as much as 100mph, based on the National Hurricane Center’s 5pm EDT replace.

“It’s really starting to build out and getting impressive, indicative of a storm that’s still strengthening,” based on the NHC’s Jamie Rhome.

Forecasts confirmed the storm passing over the Florida Keys as quickly as early Wednesday morning, earlier than persevering with to the remainder of Florida later within the day, with coastal areas “very, very vulnerable to storm surge,” Mr Rhome added.

The NHC additionally mentioned in a press release that “life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, flash floods and possible mudslides are expected in portions of western Cuba beginning this evening.”

Mandatory evacuations have been issued for tons of of hundreds of individuals as Hurricane Ian charts a path in direction of the west coast of Florida with extreme winds, flash flooding, storm surge and attainable tornadoes.

Governor Ron DeSantis warned Floridians to arrange however not panic throughout a Monday briefing after the storm was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.

“This is a really, really big hurricane at this point,” Governor DeSantis mentioned. He added that the hurricane’s path was nonetheless unsure which means that it might “wobble” in or away from the peninsula.

Florida’s Gulf Coast is forecast to be severely impacted with situations worsening as much as 36 hours earlier than the height. Meteorologists report than Ian will likely be supercharged by hotter waters within the Gulf of Mexico and will hit Florida as a monster Category 4 hurricane with prime winds of 140 mph (225 km/h).

As Hurricane Ian heads in direction of the Caribbean and Florida, 7,000 National Guard troops have been mobilised to help within the storm response, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said on Monday.

Speaking on the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, he mentioned 5,000 guard members got here from Florida, and will likely be joined by an extra drive of 2,000 from Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The governor added that 5 city search and rescue groups, as nicely as the US Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are standing at consideration.

All 67 of Florida’s counties are beneath a state of emergency.

Hurricane Ian was rising stronger as it approached the western tip of Cuba on monitor to hit the west coast of Florida as a serious hurricane as early as Wednesday.

Authorities in Cuba suspended courses in Pinar del Rio province, despatched in medical and emergency personnel, deliberate to evacuate 20 communities “in the shortest time possible,” and took steps to guard meals and different crops in warehouses, based on state media.

“Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds, also life threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall,” US National Hurricane Center senior specialist Daniel Brown advised The Associated Press early Monday.

The hurricane heart predicted areas of Cuba’s western coast might see as a lot as 14 toes (4.3 meters) of storm surge Monday evening or early Tuesday.

In Havana, fishermen had been taking their boats out of the water alongside the well-known Malecon, the seaside boardwalk, and metropolis employees had been busy unclogging storm drains forward of the anticipated rain.

Havana resident Adyz Ladron, 35, mentioned the potential for rising water from the storm worries him.

“I am very scared because my house gets completely flooded, with water up to here,” he mentioned, pointing to his chest.

On Monday afternoon, Ian was shifting northwest at 13 mph (20 km/h), about 195 miles (310 kilometers) southeast of the western tip of Cuba, with prime sustained winds rising to 85 mph (135 km/h).

The heart of the hurricane was passing to the west of the Cayman Islands. No main injury was reported there on Monday, and residents had been going again into the streets as the winds died down.

Residents of Orange County fill sand luggage at Baldwin Park to guard their properties in preparation of Hurricane Ian on Monday, September 26, 2022, in Orlando, Florida.

The National Hurricane Center issued its newest replace on Hurricane Ian at 2pm (EST).

The authorities of the Cayman Islands modified the Hurricane Warning for Grand Cayman to a Tropical Storm Warning.

A Hurricane Warning is in impact for:

– Cuban provinces of Isla de Juventud, Pinar del Rio, and Artemisa

A Tropical Storm Warning is in impact for:

– Cuban provinces of La Habana, Mayabeque, and Matanzas

– Lower Florida Keys from Seven Mile Bridge westward to Key West

A Storm Surge Watch is in impact for:

– Florida Keys from the Card Sound Bridge westward to Key West

– Anclote River southward to the Card Sound Bridge

A Hurricane Watch is in impact for:

– Englewood to the Anclote River, together with Tampa Bay

A Tropical Storm Watch is in impact for:

– Little Cayman and Cayman Brac

– Englewood southward to Flamingo

– Florida Keys from Seven Mile Bridge to the Channel 5 Bridge

A Hurricane Warning signifies that hurricane situations are anticipated someplace throughout the warning space, on this case inside 24 to 36 hours. Preparations to guard life and property ought to be rushed to completion

A Tropical Storm Warning signifies that tropical storm situations are anticipated someplace throughout the warning space inside 36 hours

A Storm Surge Watch means there’s a chance of life- threatening inundation, from rising water shifting inland from the shoreline, within the indicated places in the course of the subsequent 48 hours

A Hurricane Watch signifies that hurricane situations are attainable throughout the watch space. A watch is often issued 48 hours earlier than the anticipated first incidence of tropical-storm-force winds, situations that make outdoors preparations troublesome or harmful

A Tropical Storm Watch signifies that tropical storm situations are attainable throughout the watch space, usually inside 48 hours

Source: NOAA/National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Ian was rising stronger as it approached the western tip of Cuba on a monitor to hit the west coast of Florida as a major hurricane as early as Wednesday.

Ian was forecast to hit the western tip of Cuba as a serious hurricane after which turn into an even stronger Category 4 with prime winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) over heat Gulf of Mexico waters earlier than putting Florida.

As of Monday, Tampa and St. Petersburg seemed to be the among the many almost definitely targets for his or her first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

“Please treat this storm seriously. It’s the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley mentioned at a information convention on storm preparations in Tampa.