“Rapidly intensifying” Hurricane Ian has hit Florida’s southwest coast with warnings it is set to cause a “catastrophic” storm surge and “life-threatening” flooding.
US President Joe Biden said Ian is incredibly dangerous, and he urged residents to obey all warnings related to the category four storm.
More than two million people were under evacuation orders.
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Ian’s winds have increased to almost 155mph as conditions “rapidly deteriorate” along the coast.
The storm surge could be as high as 12-18ft (3-5 metres) above ground level in some areas, with “destructive waves”.
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It is expected to dump 12-18in (30-45cm) of rain across a broad area including Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville in the state’s northeast corner.
‘Urgently follow evacuation orders’
Among the places set to be worst affected in the southwest are from Englewood to Bonita Beach, including Charlotte Harbour, and residents “should urgently follow any evacuation orders in effect”, said the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
And hurricane-force winds were predicted to extend well inland along near the core (innermost region of the storm).
An extreme wind warning was in place for Englewood, Rotonda and Grove City until 2pm local time (7pm UK time) and people have been told to treat the winds as if a tornado was approaching by moving to an “interior room now”.
The Twitter account of NHC Storm Surge wrote: “Eyewall of Ian moving onshore! Catastrophic storm surge along with destructive waves are expected.”
The eye of a storm is typically 30km (19 miles) in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall where the most severe weather and highest winds happen.
The tropical storm conditions began in the southern state on Wednesday morning local time and the severe conditions are expected to continue overnight.
Heavy rainfall will spread across the peninsula throughout Thursday and reach parts of the southeast later this week and over the weekend.
About two-thirds of Florida is in the peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
The NHC added: “Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding is expected across portions of central Florida with considerable flooding in southern Florida, northern Florida, southeastern Georgia and coastal South Carolina.
“Widespread, prolonged moderate to major river flooding expected across central Florida.”
‘A nasty, nasty two days’
Mr Biden said he had spoken to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday about Ian, adding that the federal government had met every request for help from the coastal state.
“This is going to be a nasty day, two days,” Mr DeSantis said. “Probably, we think now, it will be exiting the peninsula sometime on Thursday.”
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Hurricane Ian tears across Cuba
Hurricane Ian leaves millions in Cuba without electricity
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Meanwhile, Cuban officials said they have begun to restore some power after Ian knocked out electricity to the entire island while devastating some of the country’s most important tobacco farms when it hit the island’s western tip as a major storm.
Ian made landfall there on Tuesday as a category three storm, causing flooding, as houses were damaged and trees toppled in the strong winds.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and others fled the area ahead of its arrival.
