Hurricane Ian continues its course in the Atlantic. This Wednesday, the level 4 storm continues to intensify and is about to hit the coast of Florida after devastating the island of Cuba.
“Time is fast running out for residents to ramp up preparations in the southwestern Florida panhandle as Hurricane Ian approaches,” the US Hurricane Center (NHC) tweeted. on Wednesday afternoon.
With sustained winds of up to 250 km/h and even “higher” gusts, Ian is heading for the west coast of Florida, where he is expected in the early afternoon of this Wednesday.
“Significant Consequences”
Between 30 and 45 cm of precipitation is expected in central and northeast Florida, and up to 60 cm in some places, according to the NHC. This is the equivalent of six months of rain in the region.
“This is a big storm,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday morning at a news conference, warning Ian could make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, the highest category on the Saffir Hurricane Scale. simpsons.
The hurricane should then “move over land” during the day and “emerge over the western Atlantic on Thursday night.”
“Clearly this is a very powerful hurricane that will have far-reaching consequences,” he said.
800,000 people have left their homes
Therefore, Florida prepares to suffer the significant repercussions of the passage of the hurricane. “It feels like a ghost town,” says Antoine Heurlard, a special correspondent for BFMTV in Tampa, Florida.
Evacuation orders were issued overnight for a dozen coastal counties, and some 800,000 people fled their homes in the Tampa region, a city likely to be hardest hit by the hurricane.
Residents locked down their homes before leaving. The Tampa airport also suspended operations Tuesday afternoon.
Warning that the day was going to be “very, very difficult,” the governor asked people not to go out into the streets during the passage of the eye of the hurricane.
3,000 National Guard men mobilized in Florida
Authorities fear heavy flooding in an already very swampy region and waves on the coast could reach up to 3 meters.
On Tuesday, Joe Biden also warned that Ian “could be a very violent hurricane, the impact of which would be devastating and life-threatening.” The President of the United States has already approved emergency federal aid for 24 of Florida’s 67 counties.
According to the Pentagon, 3,000 National Guardsmen are deployed in Florida, with 1,800 more on the way.
Source: BFM TV
