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Hurricane Ian on its way to Florida: people fleeing
Photo: dpa
Hurricane Ian hit Cuba hard.
Floods are the result, the electricity has failed.
The hurricane is now moving towards the USA, and people in the state of Florida are alarmed.
The overview.
What did "Ian" do to Cuba?
Hurricane "Ian" hit Cuba early Tuesday morning (local time) at 205 km/h.
Debris in the streets, houses submerged, trees uprooted, houses covered and streets flooded: Photos show the destruction left in its wake by the category three out of five cyclone.
"The damage is great, even if it has not yet been statistically recorded," wrote President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Twitter after a visit to the province of Pinar del Río, which was particularly hard hit.
The Cuban government has announced that two people have died in the province after their houses collapsed.
The electricity failed nationwide, the state electricity provider of the Caribbean state announced that the supply would be gradually restored at night and in the morning.
Because of the power outages and disruptions to internet access and telephone connections, there is currently little information from the areas that were particularly hard hit.
There were also power and water cuts in the capital, Havana, and trees fell.
Some houses collapsed, according to the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
Thousands of people had to get to safety from the aftermath of the storm – the majority of them stayed with family or friends.
"Granma", citing the weather service, also warns of possible flooding on Havana's coast due to waves up to three meters high for Wednesday.
Where is »Ian« moving to right now?
"Ian" has swept across the country, but hasn't weakened.
On the contrary: The US hurricane center has upgraded the storm to category four out of five.
It is currently traveling at wind speeds of up to 220 km/h, but according to the US hurricane center it could still gain strength.
The storm is currently about 90 miles west of the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.
The foothills of the storm are already noticeable in southern Florida, and the first rain bands are moving across the US state.
According to the Washington Post, there was a storm surge on Key West, an island belonging to Florida, on Tuesday evening.
Meteorologist Felicia Combs shared a video on Twitter.
How badly will "Ian" hit the US?
According to the US Hurricane Center, "Ian" is expected to make landfall south of the city of Tampa on Wednesday (local time).
"Predictions are subject to change, but for now the experts are saying this could be a very severe hurricane, life-threatening and with devastating effects," US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
The US Hurricane Center warns of "life-threatening storm surges, catastrophic winds and flooding" on the west coast of Florida.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the hurricane may weaken before it makes landfall.
But because it then moves at a "snail's pace", a lot of rain will fall in the coastal region.
The weather service issued a storm surge warning for about half of Florida's western shoreline, and the storm surge could cause water levels of up to 3.5 meters in some sections.
Data modeling service Enki Research estimates storm-related damage to range from $38 billion to more than $60 billion.
Deanne Criswell of the American Disaster Management Agency FEMA warned that the region likely to be affected by the storm had not experienced such a hurricane for around 100 years.
Experts are also worried that in the past few decades, construction in the region has been getting closer and closer to the water.
Floods could damage or destroy many buildings.
The weather service reports that flooding and tornadoes are also to be expected in the interior of the country.
How is the US preparing for the hurricane?
In Florida, the people are storm-tested and are preparing for the approaching danger.
Evacuation instructions apply to 2.5 million residents - numerous people are currently getting to safety.
Governor DeSantis called on people to protect themselves.
No one should assume that things will turn out lightly this time just because that has often been the case in the past.
You can rebuild houses, but personal safety is paramount: "You still have some time, but this time is running out quickly," said DeSantis.
"There's nothing you can do about natural disasters," said Vinod Nair, who drove with his family from Tampa to Orlando to get to safety. "We live in a high-risk area, so we thought it would be best to evacuate." A tourist couple from England told Reuters news agency that they had to leave their hotel on the beach.
"Unfortunately, all the hotels are full or closed, so we'll probably have to stay in one of the shelters," Christine Williams said.
Schools, among other things, were converted into emergency shelters.
The US Department of Defense says more than 3,200 members of the Florida National Guard have been activated, with another 1,800 standing by if needed.
Florida has positioned soldiers, air force personnel and equipment at bases across the state in preparation for deployment to storm-hit areas, a department spokesman said in Washington.
For example, the National Guard can clear streets and help with search and rescue operations.
Almost 100 emergency shelters have been set up, and schools and beaches have been closed.
Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights in the United States because of the storm.
Disney announced it would be closing its Orlando theme parks and water parks on Wednesday and Thursday as a precaution.
Other recreational facilities and numerous businesses in Florida are also said to remain closed.
In the capital, Washington, "Ian" messes up the political schedule.
A public hearing by the investigative committee into the Capitol attack scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed.
And even the International Space Station is affected.
Because of the hurricane, NASA has postponed the launch of the next crew to the ISS: instead of October 3, the earliest the "Crew-5" could start is October 4, the US space agency announced.
The weather is being closely monitored.
In addition, the test start of the "Artemis" moon mission has been postponed again because of the storm.
So what's next for »Ian«?
The US hurricane center warns of heavy rain in Florida up to and including Thursday – then “Ian” should move further north – but with much less strength.
But flooding must also be expected in the neighboring state of Georgia.
ptz/dpa/Reuters/AP
