(CNN) --
Hurricane Ian hit Florida on Wednesday as one of the strongest tropical cyclones to make landfall on the state's west coast.
The landfall occurred near Cayo Costa with winds close to 240 km / h, a category 4 hurricane. In the early hours of this Thursday, collapsed buildings, floods, downed power lines and impassable roads were recorded.
After hitting Cuba on Tuesday, causing an island-wide blackout, Ian took aim at Florida's vulnerable Gulf Coast.
He advised more than 2.5 million people to flee, including 1.75 million under mandatory evacuation orders.
Stedi Scuderi looks out at his flooded apartment in Fort Myers Thursday.
Credit:Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A ship lies partially submerged in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Thursday.
Credit: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
People examine the damage to their home in Valrico, Florida, on Thursday.
Credit: Chris O'Meara/AP
Debris on a street in Punta Gorda this Thursday.
Credit: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
Brenda Brennan sits next to a boat that the hurricane pushed into her building in Fort Myers on Thursday.
She said the boat floated toward them around 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Vehicles make their way through flooded streets in Fort Myers Thursday.
Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Stefanie Karas stands in her flooded apartment in Fort Myers on Thursday.
She is an artist and was salvaging what she could from her house.
Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Firefighters help people stranded in Orange County, Florida, early Thursday.
Credit: Orange County Fire Rescue Office of Public Information via AP
A spiral staircase lies next to a damaged pickup truck in Sanibel, Florida, on Thursday.
Credit: Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press
A damaged section of the Sanibel causeway Thursday.
A portion of the roadway was washed away by the storm surge generated by the hurricane, according to live video from CNN affiliate WBBH.
The causeway is the only way to get to or from Sanibel and Captiva Islands to the Florida mainland.
Credit: Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press
A flooded street in downtown Fort Myers after Ian made landfall on Wednesday, September 28.
Credit: Marco Bello/Reuters
A woman peers through a door at damage during a power outage in Fort Myers Wednesday.
Credit: Marco Bello/Reuters
A satellite image shows how the hurricane made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida on Wednesday.
Credit: NOAA/NASA
The streets of Naples, Florida, were flooded on Wednesday.
City authorities asked residents to shelter in place until further notice.
Credit: Naples Police
A woman is helped out of a muddy area Wednesday in Tampa, Florida, where the water was receding due to a storm surge.
Credit: Ben Hendren/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Strong winds hit Punta Gorda on Wednesday.
Credit: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
A woman holds an umbrella upside down in the wind in Tampa on Wednesday.
Credit: Ben Hendren/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Sailboats anchored in Roberts Bay are blown by the wind in Venice, Florida, on Wednesday.
Credit: Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS/Abaca/Reuters
Melvin Phillips stands in the flooded basement of his mobile home in Stuart, Fla., on Wednesday.
Credit: Crystal Vander Weit/TC Palm/USA Today Network
A man walks past the spot where the water receded from Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
Credit: Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images
Visible damage to Kings Point condominiums in Delray Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
Authorities believe it was caused by a tornado fueled by Hurricane Ian.
Credit: Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post/USA Today Network
A television crew broadcasts from the beach in Fort Myers, Wednesday.
Credit: Marco Bello/Reuters
Utility trucks stand in a rural lot Wednesday in The Villages, a Florida retirement community.
Credit: Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/AP
Tampa's roads were empty Wednesday, before Hurricane Ian made landfall.
Several coastal counties in western Florida were under mandatory evacuation.
Credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
An overturned plane in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Wednesday.
Credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP
Zuram Rodríguez surveys the damage around his home in Davie, Fla., early Wednesday.
Credit: Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP
People play dominoes with a flashlight during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday.
Crews in Cuba have been working to restore power to millions of people after Hurricane Ian hit the western region with strong winds and a dangerous storm surge, causing an island-wide blackout.
Credit: Ramon Espinosa/AP
People walk through a flooded street in Batabanó, Cuba, on Tuesday.
Credit: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
Southwest Airlines passengers check in near a sign displaying canceled flights at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday.
Credit: Chris O'Meara/AP
María Llonch retrieves her belongings from her home in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on Tuesday.
Credit: Ramon Espinosa/AP
Traffic piles up on Interstate 4 in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday.
Credit: Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel via AP
A man carries his children through the rain and debris in Pinar del Río on Tuesday.
Credit: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
People drive through the rubble in Pinar del Río, on Tuesday.
Credit: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
Frederic and Mary Herodet board up their restaurant, Gulf Bistro, in St. Pete Beach, Fla., on Tuesday.
Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
NASA's Artemis I rocket is stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday.
The rocket launch was postponed due to the imminent arrival of Hurricane Ian.
Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Hurricane Ian as seen from the International Space Station on Monday, September 26.
Credit: NASA via AP
Waves rise along the Batabanó coast as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Cuba on Monday.
Credit: Ramon Espinosa/AP
A Cuban family transports their belongings to a safe place in the Fanguito neighborhood of Havana, on Monday.
Credit: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
A family brings a dog to safety in Batabanó, Cuba, on Monday.
Credit: Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images
People wait to fill up their cars at a Costco store in Orlando on Monday.
Credit: Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
Ryan Copenhaver, manager of Siesta T's in Sarasota, Fla., installs storm panels over the store's windows on Monday.
Credit: Mike Lang/USA Today Network
A man helps pull small boats out of the bay in Havana, Cuba, on Monday.
Credit: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
Empty shelves in the water aisle of a supermarket in Kissimmee, Fla., on Monday.
Credit: Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
Cathie Perkins, director of Emergency Management in Pinellas County, Florida, references a map Monday that indicates where storm surge would impact the county.
During a press conference, she urged everyone who lives in those areas to evacuate.
Credit: Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Sarah Peterson fills sandbags at Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on Saturday, September 24.
Credit: Andrew West/USA Today Network
