Hurricane Ian Makes Landfall In Florida As Category 4 Storm
Hurricane Ian made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida as a monster Category 4 storm on Wednesday with powerful winds and torrential rains threatening to cause "catastrophic" damage and flooding.
The National Hurricane Center said the eye of the "extremely dangerous" hurricane slammed into the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of the city of Fort Myers, at 3:05 pm (1905 GMT).
Dramatic television footage showed churning water submerging roads and sweeping away cars as the hurricane pounded the coastal city of Naples to the south of Fort Myers.
The NHC said Ian was packing maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour) when it made landfall and was already "causing catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula."
Ian is expected to affect several million people across Florida and in the southeastern states of Georgia and South Carolina and may have already claimed its first casualties.
The US Border Patrol said 20 migrants were missing after their boat sank. Four Cubans who survived swam to shore in the Florida Keys and three were rescued at sea by the coast guard.
As hurricane conditions spread, forecasters warned of a looming once-in-a-generation calamity.
"This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come," said National Weather Service director Ken Graham. "It's a historic event."
Punta Gorda, north of Fort Myers, was being pounded by torrential rain and streets emptied as the howling winds ripped fronds off of palm trees and shook electricity poles.
Some 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with several dozen shelters set up, and voluntary evacuation recommended in others.
For those who decided to ride out the storm, authorities stressed it was too late to flee and that residents should hunker down and stay indoors.
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