On Tuesday, as Hurricane Ian grew stronger and approached Florida, authorities and citizens started prepared for the worst.
There are evacuation orders in place for more than two million Floridians, including the inhabitants of nearly 100 nursing institutions in Pinellas County alone. Hotels are turning away visitors when Tampa International Airport suspends operations later on Tuesday afternoon. Emergency personnel from Florida stepped up their search and rescue operations throughout the Gulf Coast in case the storm caused fatal storm surges and catastrophic flooding.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, “If you’re told to evacuate, that’s a decision based on what we’re seeing with the storm, what your local officials are seeing with the storm, and the potential effect for that section of the state.” “Get to the higher ground and enter a safe structure. That doesn’t mean you have to leave God’s creation entirely.”
Currently, Hurricane Ian is predicted to make landfall as early as Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Ian is predicted to produce a storm surge of up to 8 feet to Tampa Bay before moving inland and dumping 20 inches of rain as it traverses the state reaching Daytona Beach, according to the most recent forecast from the National Hurricane Center in Miami. In Charlotte County, where Ian is now anticipated to make landfall, the storm surges could reach heights of 12 feet.
The governor of Florida issued a warning, citing storm surge and flooding as two of the biggest dangers.
Regarding the anticipated storm surge, he added, “You’re going to see that happening. The Gulf is going to be extremely angry as this comes in.” Therefore, more so than the wind, the threat to life and limb is posed by that surge and that inundation.
Additionally, DeSantis warned that many state residents should prepare for power outages, gasoline shortages, and downed mobile phone towers.
The first significant hurricane to hit Tampa directly since 1946 is Hurricane Ian.
On Tuesday, the Florida National Guard started preparing additional helicopters and other aircraft for aerial rescue operations. On Monday, the National Guard had already started preparing post-landfall strategies to fly supplies to areas around Clearwater and St. Petersburg, but Ian’s altered course has now expanded those preparations along the Gulf Coast. Major General James O. Eifert of the National Guard claimed to have requested trucks from neighbouring states that could readily cross high floodwaters.
According to Eifert on Tuesday, “it kind of fluctuates day to day as we see the updates on the hurricane and where it’s headed, as well as what type of potential damages and missions it might introduce for our personnel.”
DeSantis called in 2,000 additional guardsmen from neighbouring states and 5,000 Florida National Guard members to help with preparations. The governor emphasised that it was difficult to predict how devastating Ian would be for the state, but he urged citizens to respect evacuation orders from local authorities if given.
The goal of an order for evacuation, according to your local emergency officials, is to save lives, according to DeSantis. And the more people who pay attention to that, the less likely it is that there would be fatalities in those locations during significant storm surge or flooding.
Tuesday morning, after crossing the western point of Cuba overnight as a Category 3 hurricane, Ian started moving toward Florida through the Gulf of Mexico. Before the storm makes landfall over Venice, it is anticipated that the warm waters to the west of the state will aid in the storm’s intensification to Category 4 with 120 mph winds. Previously, it was anticipated that the landfall would occur in Tampa Bay, which is home to more than 3 million people. As a result of Tuesday’s revised forecast, the state’s Division of Emergency Management has decided to redistribute a fleet of 300 ambulances that were sent to Tampa Bay along the coast.
There will still be support in Tampa Bay, where we’ve done a lot of staging, according to DeSantis. But there will be greater requirements there as a result of the track shifting further south, she said.