More than 2 million homes and businesses in Florida will be without power on Wednesday evening (local time) due to the effects of Hurricane Ian. That reports Poweroutage.us, which keeps track of more than 11 million customers in Florida whether the light is still on.
Governor Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday night that Ian is likely to cause statewide damage and is one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit Florida. “This is a big one, and I think we all know there’s going to be big, big consequences,” DeSantis said. Later in the evening, the governor told Fox News that “these are the worst flooding the southwestern part of the state has ever seen.”
Ian weakened in the hours after it made landfall at the island of Cayo Costa from the second heaviest category 4 to finally category 1. That includes wind speeds of up to 145 kilometers per hour. These too can have devastating consequences. It also warns of “catastrophic flooding”. Ian continues to move over Florida at a speed of about 10 miles per hour during the night.
Nuisance
It was already expected that Ian would gradually weaken above land, but serious nuisance must be expected until at least Thursday. Then Ian heads for South and North Carolina and Virginia. A state of emergency was also declared in these three states on Wednesday.
Weatherman Mike Seidel for The Weather Channel writes on Twitter that he has covered more than 90 storms during his decades-long career, but has “never experienced anything like Hurricane Ian”.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorologist Nick Underwood, who flew a plane through the eye of the hurricane, shares footage of that flight with the BBC. He flew through several hurricanes to take measurements, but says Wednesday’s flight “is by far the roughest of his career. I’ve never experienced such sideways movements.”