Hurricane Ian made its first landfall just after 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, on Cayo Costa, a barrier island just west of Fort Myers, Fla.
The storm is expected to cause life-threatening storm surges, catastrophic winds, and flooding in the Florida peninsula. The center of Ian is forecast to move over Central Florida Wednesday night and Thursday morning and emerge over the western Atlantic by late Thursday.
Hurricane Warnings have been issued for: Polk, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Brevard, and Volusia counties Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued for: Flagler County, and Marion County.
A Tornado Watch was issued for Brevard, Orange, Osceola & Seminole Counties until 1 a.m. Thursday.
At the 5:00 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Ian is 120 miles (190 kilometers) south-southwest of Orlando, Florida, with sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph), moving to the north-northeast at 8 mph (13 kph).
The National Hurricane Center just issued a storm surge watch in South Carolina for an area just north of Charleston to the Little River Inlet, on the coastal border with North Carolina. In North Carolina, a tropical storm warning was extended to Surf City, north of Wilmington, and a tropical storm watch was in effect from Surf City to Cape Lookout.
And thirteen minutes ago, Hurricane Ian just made a second landfall, this time on the Florida mainland near the southwestern city of Punta Gorda. Ian had maximum sustained winds estimated at 145 m.p.h., according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm first hit Florida at Cayo Costa, a barrier island west of Fort Myers.
Ian is expected to emerge over the western Atlantic by Thursday evening and will turn northward on Friday and approach the northeastern coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina coasts late Friday.
