The climatic phenomenon is already a hurricane and is approaching the western end of Cuba, where the United States National Hurricane Center warns of strong winds and rain. Later, it would strengthen further in the Gulf of Mexico, in category 3 or 4, before reaching the west coast of Florida, between Tuesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 29. Residents are rushing to store emergency supplies.
Ian threatens Cuba and Florida. According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center, the phenomenon strengthened into a category 1 hurricane this Monday, September 26, as it approaches the western end of the island.
Experts predict that Ian will hit Cuban territory in the next few hours with strong winds and rains and a potentially deadly storm surge, after leaving behind its classification as a tropical storm.
The fast-growing storm is about 160 km west of the island of Grand Cayman, the largest of that British overseas territory, at a time when it is moving northwest towards Cuba, while registering maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour
“Devastating wind damage is possible as Ian’s core moves over western Cuba,” the US weather service division said.
Since the weekend, Cuban authorities began evacuating tourists and some workers from Isla de la Juventud and Cayo Largo, off the southwest coast, in Pinar del Río province, where the hurricane was expected to make landfall.
Given the climate scenario, the local government raised the hurricane alert for the western provinces, announced plans for food distribution and the evacuation of people from low-lying areas.
Likewise, it suspended classes in the province of Pinar del Río and closed its train system.
Forecasts indicate that the phenomenon would directly hit that region, dedicated mainly to agriculture and fishing.
However, the exact trajectory of the phenomenon is uncertain and concern is gripping many. In a bakery in the capital, on Monday morning the line to buy bread increased to almost double its normal length, occupying several blocks, as the demand for basic products increased before the storm.
“I’m buying bread now because later in the afternoon I won’t be able to leave my house,” said Guillermo Gómez, 79, as he waited to enter the bakery. “The water will reach my knees.”
Elsewhere in the Caribbean, airports in the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, have stopped operations since Sunday and the weather service has forecast waves of up to 4.3 meters.
Ian would reach Florida as a category 4 hurricane
Further north, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in all 67 counties, some of which had already announced evacuation orders. He also activated some 2,500 members of the National Guard.
After hitting Cuba, it is forecast to strengthen further over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to become a category 3 or 4 hurricane, on a scale of 5, with maximum winds of 225 kilometers per hour, before hitting Florida. along a stretch that includes the Tampa Bay area.
But it could weaken back to Category 1, with 90 mph winds, while parked off Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the NHC forecast.
From there, Ian could make landfall north of Tampa Bay early Friday or turn northwest toward the Florida Panhandle.
#Ian is expected to be a major hurricane in the eastern Gulf of
Mexico during the middle of this week. Regardless of Ian’s exact track, there is a risk of a life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, & heavy rainfall along the west coast/Panhandle of Florida by mid-week pic.twitter.com/koVmW9yrtJ— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 26, 2022
“Life-threatening storm surge associated with Hurricane Ian is possible along Florida’s west coast beginning Tuesday night,” the center said in its most recent update.
The US Hurricane Center explained that the greatest risk of life-threatening storm surge would occur along the western coast of that state, from Fort Myers to the Tampa Bay region.
“Please treat this storm seriously. It’s the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley said at a press conference on September 26.
Authorities urged residents to prepare for potential catastrophic winds that could damage or destroy homes and businesses, as well as cause power outages. Flooding from torrential rains could submerge streets and homes, forecasters warn.
Thousands of Floridians have installed sandbags and stored emergency supplies before the foreseeable arrival of the hurricane in that area of the country, on Wednesday, September 28, according to estimates from the center.
“People in Florida should start preparing for this storm now. The sooner the better (…) Especially in the Keys and the West Coast. In the Keys, there is only one way in or out, if there is an evacuation,” he stressed. Bob Oravec, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Between 15 and 30 cm of rain is expected to flood the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida on Thursday, the expert added.
Ian follows Hurricane Fiona, a powerful Category 4 storm that blasted a path of destruction last week across Puerto Rico, leaving most of the US territory without power or running water.
Fiona then sailed through the Turks and Caicos Islands, skirted Bermuda, and crashed into Atlantic Canada, where critical infrastructure could take months to repair.
With Reuters and AP
