Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida: winds up to 250 km/h, 1 million people without power

Long traffic jams with fleeing residents trying to take as much as possible with them. He built many homes and shops. Florida is prepared for the worst and looks like a ghost country. The US National Hurricane Center calls them “life-threatening storms, catastrophic winds and severe flooding.”

Before Ian made landfall at around 9 p.m. (Belgian time) on Wednesday night, the hurricane was dangerously gaining strength over the Gulf of Mexico and the US Air Force’s hurricane hunters had already measured winds of up to 250 km/h. However, a Category 4 storm roughly develops into a Category 5 hurricane (the most severe and most dangerous category).

The path of the hurricane, which could be seen even from space, had changed in the meantime. Ian is expected to make a difficult pass through the densely populated area of ​​Tampa, where he once feared the worst.

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On Florida’s west coast, 2.5 million people have already been evacuated due to the storm, high waves and flooding caused by heavy rainfall.

The water level in Fort Myers has risen more than two meters in the past seven hours, the highest rise since records began in 1965.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency, warning, based on forecasts by forecasters, that some areas may be uninhabitable for weeks or even months after the hurricane has passed. Many log homes will not be able to withstand the force of the hurricane and parts of the entire state will be inundated by the torrential rains.

In the meantime, the first losses are likely to have fallen as well. Rough seas swallowed a boat carrying Cuban immigrants off the coast of Florida. According to the US Border Patrol, 23 people on board are missing. Four people managed to swim to Stoke Island near Key West.

Large parts of Florida are already without power due to exploding power grids. The worst is yet to come.

Meanwhile, the governor of South Carolina has also declared a state of emergency now and the hurricane appears to be heading in that direction.

The storm shouldn’t end until Friday.

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Tobacco plantations destroyed

Meanwhile in Cuba, they lick their wounds after Ian passes. The damage is enormous. Hurricane with winds up to 205 km / h. caused a power outage. And 11 million Cubans have been without electricity for more than a day.

The main tobacco plantations of Cuba in La Robina were also badly affected. “It was horrible,” says Hirochi Robaina of cigar producer Finca Robina.

Meteorologists are particularly concerned that Ian advanced too quickly from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane. Hurricane experts see climate change as one reason and say it’s not a reassuring statement about the future.