Hurricane Ian slams Florida’s west coast as Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds

Amna Nawaz:

The state of Florida is under assault tonight, and the damage is likely to be catastrophic.

Hurricane Ian blasted ashore today near Fort Myers, on the Gulf Coast, and began a slow trek toward the Atlantic. It packed sustained winds of 150 miles an hour and knocked out power to more than a million homes and businesses.

John Yang is in Jacksonville, Florida, and begins our coverage.

John Yang:

Early this morning, Hurricane Ian quickly escalated into a near-Category 5 storm. Across Florida's Gulf Coast, residents braced for a brutal impact, boarding up businesses and stocking up on supplies and gas.

Bruce Henry, a longtime resident of Port Charlotte, had a message for his fellow Floridians.

Bruce Henry, Port Charlotte Resident:

Don't panic. Use common sense and a level head and just do what you got to do.

John Yang:

The massive hurricane slammed onshore this afternoon north of Fort Myers, avoiding a direct hit on the much larger city of Tampa. Forecasters warned that storm surges could reach up to 18 feet across more than 200 miles of the Gulf Coast. The storm is expected to track across the state, dumping as much as 18 inches of rain on areas like Orlando in Central Florida and Jacksonville on the Atlantic coast.

Ian's outer bands brought flooding even before landfall. More than 2.5 million residents were advised to evacuate.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL):

And while most people did leave, they had a small number of people that just wanted to hunker down, and, at the end of the day, that's a decision they made knowing that they had the ability to evacuate and knowing what the stakes were.

Nevertheless, safety, life safety operations will commence as soon as it's safe to be able to identify people who may be in harms way and who are in need of assistance.

John Yang:

Tampa resident Renee Correa took the warnings to heart.

Renee Correa, Tampa Resident:

I have been here 45 years, and this is the first time I left for a storm. The water just really scared me, and as well as the path. It was very confusing, and I didn't want to risk it.

John Yang:

In Washington, President Biden pledged federal assistance.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: I made it clear to the governor and the mayors that the federal government is ready to help in every single way possible. We will be there to help you clean up and rebuild, to help get — Florida get moving again. And we will be there at every step of the way.

That's my absolute commitment to the state of Florida.

(APPLAUSE)

John Yang:

As Ian battered Southwest Florida, Cuba struggled to recover after the storm wiped out power across the entire island on Tuesday. Electricity was restored in some areas, but, by this afternoon, much of Western Cuba was still in the dark, relying on small generators.

Oslayder Urgelles, Havana Resident (through translator):

I am uninformed. I have no charge on my phone. I have nothing. They took away the electricity and, so far, it has not come back.

John Yang:

In Florida, residents have not seen a hurricane this strong in decades.

All across Florida, shelters like one in Jacksonville are ready for lots of visitors, stocked with snacks and water, fans to keep things cool and cots for sleeping.

Jacksonville native Brenda Kinsey and her husband, James, arrived at this shelter more than five hours before it was to open.

Do you ever get used to hurricanes?

Brenda Kinsey, Jacksonville Resident:

No. No. They are all unpredictable. You never get used to them. They say, it might be this, it might be that. But, to be on the safe side, everybody should come to a center.

John Yang:

For the millions of people in the storm's path, the impact could be catastrophic and life-changing.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I am John Yang in Jacksonville, Florida.

Amna Nawaz:

For more on Hurricane Ian's trajectory and the risks ahead, let's turn to Jamie Rhome, acting director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

And, Jamie Rhome, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

So, let's just start with what we know. Where is the storm now? What do we know about its impact? And where is it headed next?

Jamie Rhome, National Hurricane Center:

You know, Ian made landfall earlier today here over Southwest Florida. So to kind of orient you, here is Boca Grande, Sanibel, Fort Myers, Venice, Sarasota, and Naples.

And, unfortunately, the early reports that we have gotten, which are limited, are the devastating storm surge that we predicted did in fact unfold.

Amna Nawaz:

And tell me a little bit more about that storm surge. Who is seeing it now? How long do you expect it to last?

Jamie Rhome:

So, we're hearing — so, Naples here, which was sort of on the edge of the eye wall, we have got a lot of reports of significant storm surge that pushed several miles inland.

They're probably not out of the woods yet. But they have probably sort of hit the top here. And now the area of Sanibel and Fort Myers, so you can almost envision where the strongest winds are still pushing, pushing towards land. They're probably still rising and still expected to experience the worst in the next coming hours.

Amna Nawaz:

And when you say significant storm surge, what are we talking?

Jamie Rhome:

We have seen — we haven't seen reports up here in Fort Myers and Sanibel yet, which would have probably gotten the worst surge, based off the forecast.

But, based off what we have seen from Naples, a devastating storm surge even well removed from the center. So that probably means that it's going to be worst here in Fort Myers once the sun comes up tomorrow.

Amna Nawaz:

So, we know there's been a lot of focus on that western coast of Florida. What can you tell us about what folks should anticipate seeing in the hours ahead, further inland or even on the East Coast?

Jamie Rhome:

Yes, that's a great question.

And let me shift sheen — screens here. I'm sorry. So, as the center moves inland, you can see that — let's get to it. The center moves inland, it'll sweep across the central portion of the state right here. And now we got red is hurricane warnings. Blue is tropical storm warnings.

So you can see this large area of tropical-storm-force winds impacting almost the entire state of Florida, and then moving off and impacting Georgia and coastal South Carolina. So, I mean, this is going to be a big event, not just for Florida, but also Georgia and South Carolina, in the coming days.

Amna Nawaz:

Jamie, could anything change the storms trajectory now? I mean, is there any chance that ends up weakening or moving faster or not causing the level of damage some are predicting?

Jamie Rhome:

You know, I think the cake is largely baked on this one, in the sense that it is going to impact Central Florida tonight and tomorrow.

We are going to have historic rainfalls and flooding over Central Florida. And then it's going to emerge out into the Gulf of — I'm sorry — the Atlantic and turn back into the southeast. I would say the only uncertainty left is in this phase of the forecast, whether or not it could regenerate as it moves back over water.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, we're keeping all the folks in Florida in our thoughts, of course.

Jamie Rhome, acting director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, with the latest on Hurricane Ian, thank you.

Jamie Rhome:

Thank you.