Hurricane Ian made landfall in western Cuba on Tuesday as forecasters warned it will intensify into a catastrophic Category 4 storm before it hits Florida's Gulf Coast, where hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Ian made landfall southwest of the town of La Coloma, Cuba, as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.
In addition, the National Weather Service extended its tropical storm warning to Georgia, and a tropical watch to South Carolina.
The storm — located about 300 miles south-southwest of Sarasota, and 125 miles south-southwest of Dry Tortugas National Park near the Florida Keys — was forecast to strengthen even more overwarm Gulf of Mexico waters, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kmh) before making landfall again.
“The NHC intensity forecast continues to call for an extremely dangerous hurricane landfall for southwestern Florida,” the hurricane center said in an advisory.
Tropical storm-force winds were expected in Florida late Tuesday, reaching hurricane-force Wednesday morning.
But heavy rainfall (forecast up to 16 inches in some areas) coupled with a life-threatening storm surge (up to 12 feet in Charlotte Harbor) has officials bracing for Ian’s impact.
“In some areas there will be catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “When you have five to 10 feet of storm surge, that is not something you want to be a part of.”
At least eight counties in Florida have issued evacuation orders, including Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, the state's third-most populous city.
DeSantis and other officials urged people in areas under evacuation orders to heed them.
“Mother Nature is a very fearsome adversary,” he said.
“People on the barrier islands who decide not to go, they do so at their own peril,” Roger Desjarlais, Lee County’s county manager, said early Tuesday. “The best thing they can do is leave.”
“We're talking about five to 10-foot storm surges, which are not survivable,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on Fox News. “You can shelter a little bit against the wind. You can hunker down in place, but you cannot shelter against water [with] three, four, five, six, or seven-foot storm surges. When it gets that high, you can't survive it.
“The only way to avoid dying in that is to leave when they tell you to leave,” Rubio added.
For those not evacuating, weather officials stressed that time is of the essence.
"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the NHC tweeted. "Today is your last day."