On the ground reporting from Azadeh Moshiri and Alexandra Ostasiewicz in St Petersburg, Florida.
SUMMARY
- is bringing severe flooding, high winds and storm surges to the Florida coast
- It is losing power as it moves inland, and has now been downgraded to a category one system
- More than two million customers in Florida have no electricity as a result of the hurricane
- It made landfall on Wednesday afternoon with maximum sustained wind speeds of 241km/h (150mph) near the city of Fort Myers
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warns people in the storm’s path to get ready for “a nasty, nasty” couple of days
- US Border Patrol is looking for up to 23 migrants missing after their ship sank during the storm
- The hurricane barrelled through Cuba on Tuesday, killing two people and shattering the country’s electrical grid
Live Reporting
Edited by Tiffany Wertheimer
- Posted at 6:376:37Cars bob like corks in Floodwaters Submerged cars, flooded car parks and power cuts are some of the dramatic scenes we’re seeing throughout south-west Florida, as the storm system moves away from the coast.Hurricane Ian continues to batter Florida’s coast, with heavy storms and high-speed winds.Video content
- By 23:00 in Florida, Hurricane Ian was losing power as it moved inland, packing wind speeds of 90mph (150km/h), which would make it a category one storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale
- It was located 70 miles south of Orlando and is forecast to continue moving across Florida, emerging into the Atlantic Ocean in the next few hours
- On Friday, it is projected to move northward to Georgia and South Carolina, while remaining at hurricane strength
- Power outages in Florida have struck over two million homes and businesses, according to website poweroutage.us
- The city of Fort Myers and its surrounding county have declared a curfew after reports of looting at a petrol station
- Tampa’s mayor warned on Wednesday night that the most dangerous 24 hours lay ahead
- President Joe Biden will receive a briefing on Thursday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency
HICGI News Agency 