Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba, lashes the island with heavy rain and gusty winds
HAVANA - Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba on Tuesday as a major hurricane.
Ian made landfall at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, rushed in emergency personnel, and took steps to protect crops in Cuba's main tobacco-growing region.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said "significant wind and storm surge impacts" were occurring Tuesday morning in western Cuba. Ian sustained top winds of 125 mph as it moved over the city of Pinar del Rio. As much as 14 feet of storm surge was predicted along Cuba's coast.
After passing over Cuba, Ian was forecast to strengthen even more over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, reaching top winds of 140 mph before making landfall again. Tropical storm force winds were expected in Florida late Tuesday, reaching hurricane force Wednesday morning.
The hurricane center said there's a 100 percent chance of damaging tropical storm force winds and water along Florida's west coast, and expanded its hurricane warning, from Bonita Beach north through Tampa Bay to the Anclote River.
Tampa and St. Petersburg could get their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Western Cuba is relatively lightly populated, but with tropical storm force winds extending outward 115 miles from Ian's center, Cuba's capital wasn't spared. Havana's residents openly worried about flooding ahead of the storm, with workers unclogging storm drains and fishermen taking their boats out of the water.
"I am very scared because my house gets completely flooded, with water up to here," Adyz Ladron said, pointing to his chest.
In Havana's El Fanguito, a poor neighborhood near the Almendares River, residents packed up what they could.
"I hope we escape this one because it would be the end of us. We already have so little," health worker Abel Rodrigues said.
Ian's forward movement was expected to slow over the gulf, enabling the hurricane to grow wider and stronger before it brings punishing wind and water to Florida's west coast. Forecasters said the surge of ocean water could reach 10 feet if it peaks at high tide. Rainfall could total 16 inches with as much as 24 inches in isolated areas. Coastal communities could be inundated.
Damaging winds and flooding are expected across the entire peninsula as Ian moves north, reaching into Georgia, South Carolina, and other parts of the southeastern United States on Friday and Sunday, the hurricane center said.