World

Hurricane Ian makes landfall near Cayo Costa, Florida with winds of 150 mph

Hurricane Ian made landfall just after 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, on Cayo Costa, a barrier island just west of Fort Myers, Fla.

Karen Graham

Published

September 28, 2022

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. Source - NOAA/GOES EAST

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.

The City of Naples has issued an emergency citywide curfew to protect and safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of City of Naples residents, visitors, and first responders. The curfew is effective immediately until further notice.

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.

In this article:Category4, Devastating storm, Georgia and South Car0olina Friday, Ian makes landfall, National hurricane center

Written By Karen Graham

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.