MIAMI, United States. – The Hurricane Ian It was downgraded to category three on the Saffir-Simpson scale after making landfall in Florida this afternoon, although its sustained winds are still close to 200 km/h, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Although it has not made landfall along the east coast of Florida, the first images of the affected areas already show devastation.
So far, more than 1.8 million customers in Florida have been without power, according to the most recent report from PowerOutage.us.
State Governor Ron DeSantis said this afternoon that storm surge has been up to 12 feet in various parts of Florida. “In some areas, we think it has reached 12 feet. In the opinion of our meteorologist, the storm surge has probably reached its peak and will be less in the next few hours, ”he detailed.
For its part, the emergency management office, FEMA, warned that the impact of the hurricane will be prolonged since the agency will reduce its speed.
DeSantis also said there could be hurricane-force winds in central Florida before the storm leaves the state.
For her part, the mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor, assured that “the worst is yet to come” and asked residents to take refuge.
“There’s been some lull, especially since Hurricane Ian made landfall in South Florida, so there may be an idea that we’ve been through the worst, but it’s yet to come for Tampa Bay,” he said. “So we’re asking everyone to shelter in place.”
Castor also said there were several downed trees in the community and roughly 5,000 residents were without power. He also noted that the rain and stronger winds are expected to last through the night.
“We still expect widespread flooding throughout our city, and anywhere from tropical storm wind speeds to category one hurricane wind speeds,” he said.
According to the National Hurricane CenterAt 8:00 pm on Wednesday, Ian’s eye was located near 27.2 degrees North latitude and 81.7 West longitude.
At that time, Ian was moving north-northeast at approximately 13 km/h.
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