Previously classified in category 4out of the 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, Ian is now in category 3 but remains destructive, according to the same source.
Nearly 2 million homes were without power Wednesday evening in Florida, mainly around the path of the hurricane, according to the specialized site PowerOutage. Several counties near where Ian made landfall were almost entirely without power, according to the site.
The town of Punta Gorda thus plunged into darkness. In the night, only a few buildings equipped with generators remained illuminated, the only sounds around being the roar of the wind and the pouring rain. In Naples, in southwest Florida, images from the MSNBC channel showed completely flooded streets and cars floating in the current.
The flood could sometimes exceed 3 meters, announced Wednesday evening the governor of the State, Ron DeSantis.
The weather phenomenon should then move inland during the day, and emerge over the western Atlantic by Thursday evening, according to the NHC. Hurricane Ian is expected to weaken as it passes inland, but could still cause significant damage as it reaches eastern Florida, he said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday night that it would likely be “one of the five strongest hurricanes to ever hit Florida“. Fema (the federal disaster relief agency) director, Deanne Criswell, said Ian will continue to be a storm.”very dangerous” pour “the coming days“.
Hurricane Ian earlier hit Cuba on Tuesday, killing two people and plunging the island into darkness.
As the surface of the oceans warms, the frequency of the most intense hurricanes, with stronger winds and greater precipitation, increases, but not the total number of hurricanes.
According to Gary Lackmann, professor of atmospheric sciences at North Carolina State University, USA, several studies have demonstrated a “lien possible” between climate change, and a phenomenon known as “d’intensification rapide“- when a relatively weak tropical storm strengthens into a Category 3 or greater hurricane within 24 hours, as was the case with Ian.”A consensus remains that there will be fewer storms in the future, but that the biggest ones will be more intense“, declared the scientist to AFP.