Makind landfall early morning on September 27 the apocalyptic storm Ian tored homes in Pinar del Río, Cuba. The storm, a category three hurricane when it struck in La Coloma around 4:30 this morning, packed sustained winds of more than 125 miles per hour.
On Tuesday night, storm surge and high winds were battering the Florida Keys, theme parks and airports closed and residents hunkered down to wait for the storm’s arrival.
As the storm made landfall, President Biden declared federal emergency. “I’ve approved a federal emergency declaration and have instructed (FEMA) Administrator Criswell to ensure that all available federal support is surged to Florida to prepare and respond to the hurricane,” Biden said in a tweet. “I encourage Florida families to heed evacuation orders.”
11 million face darkness as Cuba’s power grid collapsed completely. The heavy rain and storm have reportedly damaged planes at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines. Mandatory evacuations are currently in effect in 12 different counties. They are: Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota, St. Johns. In general evacuation orders apply to coastal and low-lying areas as well as buildings vulnerable to damage such as mobile homes. Naval ports engage shipcrafts and aircrafts for evacuation.
Ian is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, flooding and damaging winds, with impacts over a wide area of the state after causing major damage in Cuba