Hurricane Ian: Storm hits Florida causing ‘catastrophic flooding’, one million homes without power

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Nearing Category 5, Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida: First impressive images of rising waters

Ian, rated a 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, had sustained winds of 241 km/h near the island of Cayo Costa, south of Tampa, the US Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Although the strength of its winds brought the hurricane closer to Category 5, the NHC indicated that it should weaken after making landfall.

The hurricane caused “catastrophic” flooding as it approached Florida, where the Coast Guard launched operations to find 23 migrants missing at sea.

Carrying sustained winds of up to 250 km/h and an even “stronger” hurricane, the NHC estimated in its last bulletin that it would “cause sea flooding, wind and catastrophic flooding on the Florida peninsula.”

“This is a storm we’ve been talking about for years, a historic event,” said Ken Graham, director of the US National Weather Service (NWS).

More than a million homes in Florida are already without power, according to PowerOutage, a specialized site that charts power outages.

Authorities earlier in the week urged more than 2.5 million residents to evacuate their homes in flood-prone areas.