Hurricane Ian is gaining strength and heading for Cuba and the US state of Florida. The hurricane was a Category 2 out of 5, according to the US Hurricane Center.
“Life-threatening storm surges, hurricanes, flash floods and possible landslides” are expected in Cuba by Tuesday. The hurricane may then move further towards the west coast of Florida with a magnitude of 4. There, the meteorologists warn of storm surges from Wednesday – the risk is greatest between the cities of Fort Myers and Tampa. Hurricane force winds are expected from late Tuesday evening (local time).
The governor of the southeastern US state, Ron DeSantis, had already declared a state of emergency at the weekend as a precaution and called on the population to take precautions. Floods are expected, he said on Monday. Several thousand National Guard soldiers were mobilized. He hopes his state won’t be hit too hard. However, people should expect power outages – these could last for several days. “Safety is paramount,” warned DeSantis.
