Hurricane Ian is now a major Category 3 hurricane as it lashes the western portion of Cuba, although the storm is still forecast to strengthen further before hitting western Florida as officials have implemented mandatory evacuation orders.
“This is a much different storm. [Hurricane] Charley was a lot smaller, it was powerful, it was a Category 4. Most of the damage from Charley was from wind and wind destruction,” DeSantis said on Tuesday morning, referring to a 2004 Category 4 storm that hit western Florida’s coast.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for Bonita Beach to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, in Florida, officials said.
“I know there’s folks in southwest Florida who remember Hurricane Charley was projected to make a direct impact into Tampa Bay, and then it turned and went into southwest Florida. I would just say the track may end up doing something similar, but this is a much different storm,” DeSantis also said.
Evacuations
Evacuation orders have already been issued for areas along the western Florida coastline. Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders are in effect in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Charlotte, Collier, Hernando, Sarasota, Pasco, and Manatee counties.“We expect to have to evacuate 300,000 people, and that will take some time,” Hillsborough County Administrator Bonnie Wise told reporters. “That’s why we are starting today.”
“This is a worst-case scenario with a very strong, slow-moving storm just to the west of us,” noted Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes, as reported by Fox Weather.
On Tuesday morning, Lee County’s top official issued a mandatory evacuation order.
“The evacuation this morning is a mandatory evacuation order, and that is as mandatory as can be,” Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais said in a press conference on Tuesday. “We will not be going house to house enforcing people to leave, but we are stressing the importance of people getting out of harm’s way.”
