ComEd crews head to Florida, Chicago's Anti-Cruelty Society to take in animals impacted by Hurricane Ian
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- A total of 100 ComEd employees and 150 contractors from Chicago were headed to Florida and Georgia Tuesday night to help deal with any power issues after Hurricane Ian hits.
We spotted some of the trucks leaving the facility at California Avenue and Addison Street Tuesday morning.
Georgia Power and Tampa Electric asked ComEd to be ready to help.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Cruelty Society is stepping up to help animals impacted by Hurricane Ian.
Nearly three dozen dogs and cats are waiting at a Miami shelter for a road trip to Chicago as soon as it's safe enough to leave.
The goal is to alleviate crowding in Florida, so rescue organizations there can help families who might need temporary shelter.
Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday and left 1 million people without electricity, then churned on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters amid expectations it would strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm.
Ian made landfall in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, and took steps to protect crops in the nation's main tobacco-growing region. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Cuba suffered "significant wind and storm surge impacts" when the hurricane struck with top sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kmh).
Hurricane Ian was forecasted to make landfall along the west coast of Florida's peninsula Wednesday. As of Tuesday night, the storm was still churning in the Gulf of Mexico, where the warm waters allowed it to rapidly strengthen.
At 7 p.m. Chicago time Tuesday, Hurricane Ian was located about 180 miles south-southwest of Punta Gorda, Florida, and 20 miles south-southwest of the Dry Tortugas, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was moving north-northeast at 10 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, making it a Category 3 storm.