Hurricane Ian, a storm considered “extremely dangerous”, has already started to hit Florida on Wednesday (28). There are forecasts of major floods, with the water level exceeding five meters, and the winds can reach almost 250 km/h. Faced with this, the state is preparing for a catastrophic scenario.
As a preventive measure, around 2.5 million people have already been ordered to leave their homes. More than 2,000 flights have already been canceled in the United States as of early afternoon this Wednesday (28), at Brasília time.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Wednesday morning that “conditions are rapidly deteriorating along the southwestern coast of the state.”
In the last 24 hours, Hurricane Ian has experienced rapid intensification, with its peak winds increasing from 185 km/h to 249 km/h in about 16 hours.
If it reaches its current intensity or higher, it will be the strongest storm to make landfall on the west coast of the Florida Peninsula on record — making it a Category 5 hurricane.
This type of storm is the deadliest, leaving devastation and death in its wake. Winds exceed 250 km/h and waves reach 6 meters or more.
The NHC said this morning in a tweet that the eyewall of “Hurricane Ian is moving on land!”
“A catastrophic storm is expected along with destructive waves along the southwest coast of Florida from Englewood to Bonita Beach, including Charlotte Harbor. Residents must urgently follow the evacuation orders in force,” they wrote.
The storm surge is expected to be higher than that of Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm that brought a 2.5 to 4.3 meter wave to the Panhandle in 2018.
Acting Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center Michael Brennan explained what will happen next:
“Ian’s eyewall is going to continue to move ashore for the next few hours and water levels should rise — that big push of the gulf water shows up” in places like Charlotte Habor, Punta Gorda, he said.
“That’s where we see the storm surge 3.6 to 5.4 meters above ground level — that’s three times as high as I am. This is truly an untenable circumstance that is going to unfold in Southwest Florida in the next few hours,” he continued.
More than 330,000 are without power in Florida
More than 330,000 customers are without power in Florida due to Hurricane Ian, according to website PowerOutage.us. The platform reported that Lee County, home to Fort Myers and Cape Coral, has the highest number of power outages, with more than 100,000 affected.
In Collier County, which includes Naples and Marco Island, 66,000 customers lost power, according to the website.
Water treatment plant may overflow
The city of Bradenton, Florida, said its wastewater treatment plant is full “and is at risk of overflowing,” according to a Facebook post.
“We have received word from our Public Works team that our wastewater treatment plant is full and in danger of overflowing,” the post read.
The city, located south of Saint Petersburg, is seeing the impacts of Category 4 Hurricane Ian.
Bradenton is urging residents to save water. “Don’t wash dishes or clothes, flush only when necessary, limit bathing,” the city said.
Flights canceled in the USA
With Ian’s arrival, more than 2,000 flights were canceled in the United States this year, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
Another 1,600 flights have already been postponed to Thursday (29). The total in the two days exceeds 3,600 flights. Airlines are canceling flights to ensure their aircraft and crew are in safe locations and customers are not stranded as Ian approaches Florida.
American Airlines, which operates about 250 daily departures from Miami — its fourth-largest hub — canceled 583 flights, including main and regional service. He waived change and cancellation fees.
Southwest Airlines posted on Twitter that its employees are “working day and night to track” Ian. She says the storm “is expected to cause continued disruption.”
Ian’s passage through Cuba
Hurricane Ian hit Cuba before reaching Florida, leaving at least two people dead. Currently, most — if not all — of the island is without power, according to a correspondent for CNN Patrick Oppmann, and there is still a significant amount of flooding.
The storm “left behind some damage that will take weeks to heal,” he said from Havana. “People don’t have electricity in their homes. We can broadcast because we have a generator, which is a privilege most Cubans don’t have. This means that food is spoiling in their homes and conditions are going to get worse going forward. if power is not restored.”
*With input from Amanda Watts and Pete Muntean of CNN and Reuters
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
