'Ian' becomes a hurricane on its way to Cuba and Florida

Ian

is already a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center of the United States (NHC, for its acronym in English) has issued today at 5:00 a.m., Florida time (11:00 a.m., Spanish peninsular time) a warning granting it that rating.

“A rapid additional strengthening is expected today and that it will produce significant impacts of wind and cyclonic tides in western Cuba,” it has indicated in its alert.

Hurricane

is heading towards the western part of the island.

This same Monday its effects will be noticed.

The trajectory predicted by the National Hurricane Center indicates that Ian will make landfall at 2 a.m. this Tuesday, becoming a tropical storm again.

It will continue its course towards northwestern Florida, which will hit hard mainly between Thursday and Friday.

The tropical phenomenon is expected to dump heavy rain on Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina on Friday and Saturday, although the trajectory is always more uncertain after three or four days.

Analysis of satellite images and data from a reconnaissance plane have officially made Ian the fourth hurricane of the season.

Currently, the eye of the hurricane is in the vicinity of the island of Grand Cayman, and it is expected to continue moving north in the coming hours.

The hurricane is moving at a speed of about 14 miles per hour (22.5 kilometers per hour), with sustained winds reaching 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour), just above the 74-mile-per-hour limit that conventionally it is used to classify a storm of this type as a hurricane.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has issued an emergency declaration this Saturday that affects numerous counties in Florida.

With it, he authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide appropriate assistance.

Numerous Florida colleges and universities have suspended classes in anticipation of the arrival of the tropical cyclone.

Biden has postponed a trip to Florida that he had planned for this Tuesday because of the storm.

Queues at a supermarket in Kissimmee, Florida, this Sunday for purchases to prepare for the arrival of tropical cyclone Ian. GREGG NEWTON (AFP)

Florida Governor Ron De Santis has also declared an emergency situation throughout the state.

"There is a continuing risk of dangerous storm surge, heavy rain, flash flooding, high winds, dangerous seas, and isolated tornado activity," he noted in his statement.

"Due to the above conditions, which are anticipated to constitute a major disaster, I hereby declare that a state of emergency exists in the State of Florida," he added.

"We are coordinating with all state and local government partners to track the potential impacts of this storm," De Santis said in a statement.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) is mobilizing food and water trucks, generators and water pumps, identifying potential logistics storage areas to ensure food and water are available if requested by counties, has put on alert to rescue teams and has mobilized 2,500 Florida National Guard troops, according to an update released Sunday.

The authorities have asked the population to prepare themselves with supplies and water for at least a week.

This weekend long queues have been seen in some supermarkets and hypermarkets in the State by people who went to buy food to prepare for the arrival of the tropical cyclone.

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