Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding over the Florida peninsula as it made landfall, the National Hurricane Center said.
These are significant threats to areas of Tampa Bay and Florida’s Gulf Coast that don’t normally see such headlines, but they’re worth acting upon: People living along and near the coast are urged to shelter in place and remain in a safe spot until the storm has passed.
Hurricane Ian made landfall around 3:05 p.m. along the southwestern coast of Florida near Cayo Costa, the NHC said. It had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, with even higher gusts.
At 4:35 p.m., Ian made a second landfall — a mainland landfall — south of Punta Gorda as a Category 4 storm packing 145-mph winds.
As of the 8 p.m. advisory, Hurricane Ian was located about 30 miles northeast of Punta Gorda, with a north-northeast movement at 8 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 115 mph. The storm weakened from a Category 4 storm to a Category 3.
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10 Tampa Bay is keeping you ahead of Hurricane Ian:
Find your evacuation zone: https://bit.ly/3xUyMBU
Find sandbag locations: https://bit.ly/3UGMhyI
Latest area school closures: https://bit.ly/3xUJubx
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