Children have been filmed playing in the rough waves on the Floridian Key West coast as dozens are refusing to leave red ones which will be worst affected by Hurricane Ian.
Hundreds of thousands of people are currently residing in mandatory evacuation zones, with Ron DeSantis warning that there is a ‘threat to life’ by the hurricane.
Two young children have been filmed jumping in huge waves along the Key West coast despite the flooding and rough waters.
Disney World has also confirmed to staff that they will be closing their theme parks and water parks on Wednesday and Thursday due to Hurricane Ian.
They will also be closing Disney Springs on Wednesday, while Universal Orland Resort is closing Wednesday and Thursday, as well as cancelling Halloween Horror Nights.
Florida Gov. DeSantis urged residents not to ‘put themselves in harms way’ as he said the state is expecting unprecedented storm surges and flooding to cause major damage from the 15ft waves and 140mph winds.
But hardy Floridians are choosing to ignore the advice, which will see the area battered by 140mph wind and 10ft storm surge waves.
Many have decided to stay in their homes despite the warning, which means if they do get into any issues then the emergency services will not be able to assist them.
One woman posted on TikTok: ‘I have no evacuation plan except for thugging it out. I’m going to post updates until I drown or survive.’
Others appeared to joke that they only had one bottle of water to last them for the entire storm, after being woken up by an evacuation siren.
They said: ‘I have one propel, I’m not good at swimming, I got a shark rod so I can f***ing catch fish if I need to eat and I got a couple of granola bars. Lock in boys.’
Ian’s winds have increased to 120 mph as it continues to push through the Gulf of Mexico, towards Florida, and is surrounded by lightning.
Many have decided to stay in their homes despite the warning, which means if they do get into any issues then the emergency services will not be able to assist them
Visitors to the Southernmost Point buoy brave the high waves from Hurricane Ian crash for photos before the storm strengthens
Southernmost Beach Resort Pier in Key West, Florida, is already being battered by high winds with waves battering a luxury resort
Dozens of customers at Fort Wilderness Campground at a Disney resort were queuing with their luggage to comply with the evacuation process
Captain Ken Gamble says he is saying put in Treasure Beach through Hurricane Ian, after living there for 55 years saying it ‘won’t be as bad’ as the authorities are saying
Ships are seen tearing out of Tampa harbor on Tuesday afternoon and some appear to still be in the path of Hurricane Ian as it looms nearer to the Sunshine State
Vote Democrat and stop HURRICANES, says Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Sen. Amy Klobuchar told Americans to vote for Democrats in the midterm elections to take action on climate change as Hurricane Ian bears down on Florida.
Speaking on MSNBC Tuesday morning, the Minnesota Democrat touted the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.
‘We just did something about climate change for the first time in decades. That’s why we have to win this as that hurricane bears down on Florida. We have to win in the midterms,’ Klobuchar said.
Most experts agree warmer ocean waters and moisture in the air help fuel hurricanes and have thus expanded the zone where hurricanes can form.
The $740 billion bill includes billions in new funding for the clean energy industry, ‘environmental justice,’ the agriculture industry and more.
Garrett Adams posted a video to say that he has ‘no plans’ to evacuate, explaining that he lives on the water in Tampa and has tried to secure everything down for the hurricane.
He put his boat and jet ski’s onto platforms to raise them above the expected water levels, before adding ‘I’ve lived through these, I don’t know how crazy it will be but all the ones they tell me to evacuate my house is fine.’
Captain Ken Gamble says he is saying put in Treasure Beach through Hurricane Ian, after living there for 55 years.
He told DailyMail.com that he has ‘never left for a storm and isn’t starting now’ claiming it ‘won’t be as bad as they say’.
The monster storm has been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane, after lashing Cuba, with the National Guard on standby in Florida.
DeSantis has warned that Hurricane Ian will cause ‘catastrophic’ flooding across the Sunshine State and urged people to prepare for the ‘historic’ storm.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, DeSantis said that ‘safety is paramount’ for anyone in the state, and warned those on the north coast and gulf coast that they could be hit hardest by the ‘different’ storm.
He added: ‘Mother nature is a very fearsome adversary, please heed those evacuation warnings. You could see power outages, inland flooding, various types of tree damage from wind so be prepared for that.’
More than one million homes along Florida’s west coast are at risk of storm surge damage from Hurricane Ian.
The storm will move slower along the coast, maintaining high speed winds, which means that the rainfall and gale-force winds will stay in the same areas for longer.
DeSantis declared a state of emergency in all 67 counties as he called up 7,000 National Guard members to help with the effort, with 2.5million people under an evacuation order.
A woman walked her dog through the rising floodwater as the tide rises in Key West, Florida on Tuesday
Storm drains in Miami are currently overflowing with the amount of heavy rainfall that has lashed the city in the past 24 hours
Disney and Universal resorts in Orlando, Florida, are currently set to remain open as some hotels are canceling guests reservations and evacuating the area. They removes a hanging medallion from an area in the studios to prevent anyone from being hurt
Kathy Perez gathers belongings from her home as she evacuates to a safer area before the arrival of Hurricane Ian in St Petersburg Beach, Florida, on Tuesday
Ian made landfall in western Cuba early Tuesday, with the storm prompting mass evacuations and fears it will bring widespread destruction as it heads for the US state of Florida
Residents in Florida are capturing the storm clouds as the first signs of hurricane Ian hit the Sunshine State on Tuesday, with winds of up to 140mph expected
A man, along with his Macaw and cat, prepares his sailboat on the Davis Islands yacht basin in Tampa, Florida
Tampa General Hospital has created an aqua wall around the entire hospital in preparation for Hurricane Ian to protect patients and equipment
The storm is already causing huge waves to batter Florida Keys coastline, with many resorts already being flooded on the coast
Vehicles in Brickell, Florida, battled to get out of the heavily flooded roads as others were taking precautions to protect their properties
A Delta Airlines Boeing 757 pushes back from the gate at the Tampa International Airport on Tuesday before the airport closed
Canceled flights are shown on a video board at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter at the Tampa International Airport on Tuesday
Disney, airports and popular attractions in Florida are CLOSED ahead of Hurricane Ian
Disney:
- Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
- Copper Creek Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Typhoon Lagoon
- Winter Summerland Miniature Golf
- Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf
Airports:
- Tampa
- St Pete International
Attractions:
- ZooTampa
- Straz Center
- Florida Aquarium
- The Dali Museum
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
- Sparkman Wharf
- Yacht StarShip
- Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center
Sports:
- Lightning preseason postponed
- Buccaneers relocated to Miami
The storm is already causing huge waves to batter Florida Keys coastline, with many resorts already being flooded on the coast.
Schools in 26 districts across Florida have announced that they will be closed, with some shutting their doors on Tuesday, and all remaining closed through to Friday.
Universities and Florida Colleges are also closing their doors in an attempt to protect the students from the storm.
Thousands of guests at Disney World are also being evacuated from hotels and campgrounds in Orlando as Hurricane Ian is baring down on Florida, with areas at the park already suffering from flooding.
Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom are currently still open and operating under normal conditions, with the company ‘monitoring’ the situation.
The Disney Springs shopping and entertainment complex also will remain open, while Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue will be closed from Wednesday to Friday.
Copper Creek Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and the Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will also be closed for three days.
Typhoon Lagoon and Winter Summerland Miniature Golf and Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
Cancelation policies are also not being enforced by the entertainment giant, with performances around the Fort Wilderness resort being canceled.
The resort has been battered by heavy rain the past few days, with thousands of visitors braving the weather to enjoy the parks.
It comes as all of the Florida Key’s are under a tornado watch, meaning that it is possible for one to hit.
A spokesman for the company said: ‘Walt Disney World Resort is currently operating under normal conditions as we prepare to make necessary adjustments based on the latest information from the National Weather Service.
‘We continue to put the safety of our Cast Members and Guests first and will share updates with you as we monitor Hurricane Ian.’
The National Hurricane Center confirmed the storm made landfall in western Cuba at 4.30am local time, lashing the island with rain and sustained winds of 125mph.
Cuba’s capital, Havana, was hit hard by the storm with workers unclogging storm drains and fishermen taking their boats out of the water to try to protect themselves from the flooding.
Ian cut power to nearly 1 million people and tearing roofs off homes as it tracked northward toward Florida, where residents anxiously await the sprawling storm.
A local in Malecon, Havana, in Cuba, took the time to take a picture of the massive waves that were rocking the shoreline
Brickell, Miami, is also being battered by flooding and rainfall, with drains overflowing with water and cars struggling to make it through flood water
It comes as all of the Florida Key’s are under a tornado watch, meaning that it is possible for one to hit
Residents in St Petersburg, Florida, are in queues which are taking hours to get sandbags to prpare themselves for the ‘historic’ storm
Rebecca Hale and her mother, Edda Howard, place shutters on her home as they prepare for the possible arrival of Hurricane Ian
Strong winds are already battering palm tree’s at the Antonio Maceo Monument in Havana, Cuba, early on Tuesday morning
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, DeSantis said that ‘safety is paramount’ for anyone in the state, and warned those on the north coast and gulf coast that they could be hit hardest by the ‘different’ storm.
Residents in Florida are seen packing up their homes to head for a safer area as more than 2.5million people are under evacuation orders
A utility pole lies on the street in Consolacion del Sur, Cuba, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian hitting the island
More than 503,000 still without power in Puerto Rico after being hit by Hurricane Fiona
An estimated 503,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Puerto Rico on Tuesday after Hurricane Fiona hit on Sept. 18 and caused an island-wide power outage for its 3.3 million people.
After hitting Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Fiona turned north and slammed into eastern Canada over the weekend where it left more than a third Nova Scotia without power.
Fiona hit Puerto Rico about five years after Hurricane Maria knocked out all power on the island.
PowerOutage.us, which estimates outages based on utility data, said 503,000 customers were without service on Tuesday based on information from LUMA Energy, which operates Puerto Rico’s grid.
There were about 600,000 customers without power Monday afternoon out of 1.468 million total customers, according to PowerOutage.us.
That pace of restoration is much faster than after Maria – when almost all 1.5 million customers had no power for a week. At that time the now bankrupt Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) was still operating the grid.
It took PREPA about 11 months to restore power to all customers, but Maria was a much more powerful storm than Fiona.
Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 155 mph, while Fiona hit as a Category 1 storm with winds of 85 mph.
LUMA Energy said on Monday it restored service to nearly 877,800 customers and said expects to have 77%-91% of customers restored by Friday if there is sufficient generation available from PREPA and other private generators.
LUMA is a joint venture owned by units of Canadian energy firm ATCO Ltd (50%) and U.S. energy contractor Quanta Services Inc (50%).
PREPA still owns much of Puerto Rico’s power infrastructure. LUMA won a contract to operate the grid in 2020 and started managing that system in 2021.
Source: Reuters
Mayelin Suarez, a Pinar del Rio resident who sells ice cream in the provincial capital, was still shaken Tuesday morning after a night she called ‘the darkest of her life.’
Suarez told Reuters: ‘We almost lost the roof off our house. My daughter, my husband and I tied it down with a rope to keep it from flying away.’
Improvised metal roofs on homes and buildings throughout the region, where housing and infrastructure is antiquated and vulnerable, were scattered about streets and yards following the storm.
Palm trees were down along regional highways making travel near impossible at the height of the storm.
Ian made landfall in the Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, with officials in the Sunshine State warning residents to ‘get out now’.
Tampa International Airport is set to cease commercial flights a 5pm Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Ian’s arrival.
It is location within an evacuation zone but is considered critical infrastructure and can stay open as long as needed, with visitors banned and workers will secure aircraft, jet bridges and ground equipment.
The airport will reopen once it can safely assess damage, survey road conditions and bring in staff.
St Petersburg airport is also set to close after threats of being hit by the Category 3 storm, as it is in the projected path.
All planes and flights will be closed for a number of hours, but it is not clear when the terminal will reopen after closing at 1pm.
Tampa and St Petersburg could get their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921, with authorities urging locals to ‘treat the storm seriously’ adding ‘it’s the real deal’.
The Tarpon Springs storm slammed into the area with winds of 120 mph, killing eight people, the National Weather Service said.
Tampa General Hospital has created an aqua wall around the entire hospital in preparation for Hurricane Ian to protect patients and equipment.
Miami is also being battered by flooding and rainfall, with drains overflowing with water and cars struggling to make it through flooded parts of the city.
After barreling its way through Cuba, the hurricane is forecast to strengthen even further over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters before reaching Florida as early as Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with top winds of 140mph.
The hurricane is expected to past west of the Florida Keys late Tuesday before approaching the west coast of Florida on Wednesday, prompting locals to scramble to stock up on food, water and medicine.
Local officials in Florida ordered more than 300,000 people to evacuate their homes in Hillsborough – including Tampa – Manatee, and Hernando counties, with more expected to follow.
Residents in St Petersburg, Florida, have started putting up shutters at the front of the properties to protect them from the high winds and flooding
NASA has been forced to delay the launch of its Artemis rocket again because of the hurricane barreling towards the coast – meaning they will not be able to attempt anther launch for at least three weeks
People are seen on a street in Consolacion del Sur, Cuba, during the passage of the storm – Hurricane Ian made landfall in western Cuba early Tuesday
Coeval Gonzalez, right, and Gustavo Sakharov, of Colombia, tie up sand bags on the Davis Islands beach ahead of Hurricane Ian
Dark cloud shave been forming above villa’s in Florida as residents prepare to be hit for Category 3 Hurricane Ian on Tuesday
The National Hurricane Center confirmed the storm made landfall in western Cuba at 4.30am local time, lashing the island with rain and sustained winds of 125mph
Tampa General Hospital is preparing staff and the building for the 140mph winds and storm conditions which are set to hit the city on Wednesday
St Petersburg airport is also set to close after threats of being hit by the Category 3 storm, as it is in the projected path. Dark clouds covered the roads close to the airport on Monday
Hurricane Ian, shown here over the central Caribbean, is expected to make landfall in the United States on Wednesday
Destruction has hit Cuba hard, after authorities carried out evacuations on Monday in an attempt to protect the island from the storm
More than 7,000 National Guard members have been mobilized to help Florida prepare for Hurricane Ian, with many businesses locking down their properties
People have been desperate to fill up on gas, causing huge queues at many stations as others are preparing by sandbagging roads outside their properties in an attempt to limit the damage
NASA have also been forced to delay the launch of its Artemis rocket again because of the hurricane barreling towards the coast – meaning they will not be able to attempt anther launch for at least three weeks
U.S. offshore oil producers keep eye on Hurricane Ian’s track
U.S. offshore oil producers on Tuesday were keeping a wary eye on Hurricane Ian’s track as the powerful storm shut-in at least 480,000 barrels of oil production ahead its move into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
The hurricane was over western Cuba on Tuesday and forecast to become a dangerous, category 4 storm as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico. It was packing 125 mile per hour (205 kph) winds, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, and traveling toward landfall on the west coast of Florida at mid-week.
Ian is the first hurricane this year to disrupt oil and gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which produces about 15% of the nation’s crude oil and 5% of dry natural gas. Ian’s course takes it east of the core of U.S. offshore oil and gas production.
Offshore producers Chevron, BP, Occidental Petroleum and Hess on Monday said they had taken precautions ahead of the storm’s arrival in the Gulf.
BP evacuated personnel and halted output at two offshore production platforms that together pump up to 380,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). Chevron also removed staff from two platforms that together produce 105,000 bpd.
Occidental and Hess said they were implementing storm procedures without providing specifics.
A surge of up to 10ft of ocean water and 10 inches of rain is predicted to drench the Tampa Bay area, with as much as 15 inches in isolated areas – enough water to inundate coastal communities.
Experts have warned that Tampa Bay is ‘surge prone’, with Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science.
He said: ‘Strong persistent winds will push a lot of water into the bay and there’s nowhere for it to go, so it just builds up.
‘Tampa Bay is very surge-prone because of its orientation.’
Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County added: ‘That’s a lot of rain. That’s not going to drain out quickly.
‘This is no joke. This is life-threatening storm surge.’
Terrified residents have been desperately digging huge trenches to redirect flood water from their homes while others have stripped supermarket shelves bare of water and essentials.
Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to collect bags of sand and stock up on essentials from supermarkets as they prepared to bunker down ahead of the monster weather front.
Tampa International Airport said that it would suspend its operations on Tuesday at 5pm local time (2100 GMT) before the hurricane is set to hit the area.
In Cuba, 50,000 people in Cuba’s western Pinar del Rio province were evacuated to safer locations, 6,000 of them to 55 state-run shelters and the rest to the homes of relatives and friends.
The island’s west coast is set to see as much as 14ft of storm surge, as officials rushed to protect crops in China’s main tobacco-growing region.
NASA have also been forced to delay the launch of its Artemis rocket again because of the hurricane barreling towards the coast – meaning they will not be able to attempt anther launch for at least three weeks.
The 322-foot-tall rocket has been rolled back four miles to the Vehicle Assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center.
Cathy Dalrymple fill gas containers at a station before the possible arrival of Hurricane Ian in St Petersburg
Plywood with graffiti was being installed on a restaurant in Gulfport, Florda, to protect the windows against the storm
Homes in Indian Shores are also being storm-proofed with many nailing on plywood to their windows in an attempt to stop them from breaking
Flooding is set to hit Florida later this week, as Miami is currently battling against flooding as cars try to get through the water
Thousands of members of the National Guard are on standby in Florida as the state braces for Hurricane Ian, which is set to bring a trail of destruction as a result of 15ft waves and 140mph winds
A surge of up to 10ft of ocean water and 10 inches of rain is predicted to drench the Tampa Bay area, with as much as 15 inches in isolated areas – enough water to inundate coastal communities
After barreling its way through Cuba, the hurricane is forecast to strengthen even further over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters before reaching Florida as early as Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with top winds of 140mph
Residents in King Tide, Key West, are already having flooding that is not caused by the storm and are concerned what the repercussions will be when the storm hits
On Monday, DeSantis warned of heavy traffic amid reports that some highways were bumper-to-bumper for around 50 miles.
The governor said: ‘When you have millions of people in a metro area, no matter how it’s done, you’re going to have traffic. That’s just the reality.’
In a statement on rationing, a Publix spokesperson said: ‘As we continue to monitor Ian, Publix locations may limit quantities of items, such as water, to best serve the majority of our customers.’
The statement went on: ‘We have seen increased purchases on items such as bread, water, batteries and canned goods, just to name a few.’
US President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to co-ordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property.
The President postponed a scheduled September 27 trip to Florida because of the storm, with White House officials confirming they are ‘closely monitoring’ the situation.
An official said that the president approved the emergency assistance request ‘as soon as he received it’.
They added: ‘He also directed his team to surge Federal assistance to the region well before landfall. FEMA has already deployed staff there and pre-positioned food, water, and generators.’
Florida mobilizes 5,000 National Guard and ropes in 2,000 from other states to prepare for wrath of Hurricane Ian
Mobilization:
- 5,000 National Guard from Florida
- 2,000 National Guard from other states
- Search and rescue teams on standby
- 28,000 linemen to restore power
2.5M under evacuation orders:
- Pinellas County
- Hillsborough County
- Manatee County
- Hernando County
K12 school closures:
- Baker County
- Brevard County
- Charlotte County
- Citrus County
- Collier County
- DeSoto County
- Dixie County
- Gilchrist County
- Glades County
- Hamilton County
- Hardee County
- Hendry County
- Hernando County
- Highlands County
- Hillsborough County
- Lafayette County
- Lake County
- Lee County
- Levy County
- Manatee County
- Marion County
- Monroe County
- Okeechobee County
- Orange County
- Osceola County
- Pasco County
- Pinellas County
- Polk County
- Putnam County
- Sarasota County
- Seminole County
- Sumter County
- Volusia County
College closures:
- College of Central Florida
- College of the Florida Keys
- Daytona State College
- Hillsborough Community College
- Eastern Florida State College
- Florida Gateway College
- Florida SouthWestern State College
- Indian River State College
- Lake-Sumter State College
- Pasco-Hernando State College
- Polk State College
- Seminole State College
- South Florida State College
- St Petersburg College
- State College of Florida
- Valencia College
University closures:
- Florida A&M University
- Florida Gulf Coast University
- Florida Polytechnic University
- Florida State University
- New College of Florida
- University of Central Florida
- University of Florida
- University of South Florida
Source by www.dailymail.co.uk
