Tropical Storm Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida on Wednesday. The hurricane has expanded to the fourth category with wind speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour. At least 450,000 homes in Florida are now without power, writes the AP news agency.
Photos show long queues of people trying to get out of the hurricane’s path. More than two million people were advised to evacuate on Tuesday. The coast has since been flooded with water being blown inland, video footage shows:
Ian previously raged over neighboring Cuba, where a hospital was damaged, according to AP. As far as we know, no one was killed there. Twenty people are still missing who tried to get to Florida on a boat from Cuba, reports CBS News. Three other migrants were rescued from the water by the coast guard.
Some oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico came, according to news site Politico temporarily halted, but US President Joe Biden warned oil companies not to use that as an excuse to push oil prices further. AP quotes Biden as saying: “America is watching. The industry has to do the right thing.”