Hurricane Ian update: Fears of ‘major disaster’ as Cuba and Florida brace for category 4 storm

Hurricane Ian is historic for a number of reasons.

It’s rapid ascension from tropical storm to a likely Category 4 hurricane in a span of a few days is historic enough, a sign of our climate-changed times.

The hurricane also marks the first direct hurricane hit in Tampa and St Petersburg Florida since 1921.

“Please treat this storm seriously. It’s the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley told residents of Tampa at a news conference on Monday.

Floridians faced long lines at gas stations and empty shelves as residents prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Ian, a storm expected to reach Category 4 by the time it makes landfall in the Sunshine State later this week.

Lengthy queues were reported throughout the weekend in locations like Pasco County, north of Tampa, Tallahassee and Daytona Beach.

Alicia Socker of Lee County told WINK News she had encountered multiple “no gas” signs as she searched for fuel on Monday.

“No gas. Next gas station on the left, no gas next station in front of Publix, no gas,” she said, before eventually locating a Circle K station with supplies.

“If it was $8 a gallon, I would have gotten a couple right,” she added. “Seriously, when you need it, you need it.”

Mandatory evacuations have been issued for hundreds of thousands of people as Hurricane Ian charts a path towards the west coast of Florida with severe winds, flash flooding, storm surge and possible tornadoes.

Governor Ron DeSantis warned Floridians to prepare but not panic during a Monday briefing after the storm was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.

“This is a really, really big hurricane at this point,” Governor DeSantis said. He added that the hurricane’s path was still uncertain meaning that it could “wobble” in or away from the peninsula.

Louise Boyle has the full report.

Hurricane Ian became a Category 2 storm on Monday, bearing down on the Cayman Islands and Cuba as Floridians were warned to “be ready” for extreme weather in the coming days.

After months with few notable storms, the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season is in full swing. As Florida prepares for the incoming weather event, Atlantic Canada is recovering from post-tropical cyclone Fiona which made landfall in Nova Scotia early on Saturday.

As the world’s average temperature increases and sea levels rise, hurricanes are expected to become stronger — and the damage more catastrophic, scientists say.

As night falls over Florida ahead of the approach of Hurricane Ian, here are two views on the growing storm.

One comes from government satellites and another from social media users.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has released his latest update on the strengthening Hurricane Ian.

It contains detailed information on storm surges, school closures, and more.

Get all the information here.

“There’s an old phrase: you hide from wind, but you run from water,” Richard Olson, director of extreme events research at Florida International University (FIU), told The Independent earlier this year. “Water kills more people than wind in a hurricane.”

That’s why Floridians are especially worried about the forecast from Hurricane Ian.

When the now-Category 2 storm hits Florida during the middle of this week, it could bring up to 10 feet of storm surge flooing to places like Tampa Bay, causing extreme damage along Florida’s low-lying coastal areas.

For more on Dr Olson’s work studying storm behaviour, here’s our piece from March.

Multiple school districts in Florida are canceling classes as Hurricane Ian heads toward the state.

Baker, Columbia, and Putnam counties have all decided to close their schools later this week, News4 reports, as have districts in Hillsborough, Manatee, and Pinellas counties.

“Many factors are considered when opening a shelter, so even if our community experiences minimal physical effects from the storm, our district plays an important role,” Putnam Schools wrote in a statement. “School administrators manage the operations of the shelters, bus drivers support the transportation of some community members, food service teams provide meals to shelter occupants, and our custodial, maintenance and IT teams work to keep our facilities in order throughout the event.”

Hurricane Ian is offering a telling picture of our climate crisis age.

The storm has been rapidly intensifying as it passes through the Carribbean, expected to transform from a tropical storm into a Category 4 hurricane in an unprecedented 72 hours.

“A now climate change driven, once rare phenomenon, rapid intensification could rapidly intensify Ian going over the Gulf of Mexico’s hot waters,” director of the Climate Emergency Institute, said on Monday on Twitter.

Here’s our recent report on how warming oceans are driving stronger—and more deadly—storms.