Florida trembles when Ian arrives. With winds of up to 201 kilometers per hour and heavy rain, the hurricane has already engulfed Cuba, where some areas are without electricity and the damage count has not yet begun.
In Tampa, the alert is maximum: more than 300,000 people have been evacuated from the areas most at risk, airports have announced the suspension of operations and several Disney resorts have closed their doors. Several offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have also been evacuated as a precaution.
“Follow the instructions, take advantage of the still favorable weather conditions to go away”, is the appeal repeated for hours by the state authorities to the residents of Tampa and surrounding areas. An indication that thousands are respecting. In fact, there are long car queues on the roads to get away from the coastal areas most exposed to Ian.
The first violent rains are already falling in Key West, South Florida, but the worst is expected in the next few hours: Ian, the first hurricane expected in Tampa in 101 years and the most violent in the Gulf of Mexico by Rita in 2015, could dangerously approach and touch the ground as category 4.
The trajectory of the monster storm is not yet defined in detail by the experts who, however, warn: in the worst scenario, Ian could cause rains and winds for almost 48 hours with billion-dollar damage for Florida. In fact, the first estimates speak of a very high bill of 60-70 billion dollars.
“Mother nature is a formidable adversary. There could be catastrophic flooding, ”Governor Ron DeSantis warned, urging citizens to comply with evacuation orders. “You don’t have to go to another state or drive thousands of miles. Many shelters have been set up in the vicinity of the most exposed areas, ”explained DeSantis, assuring that 5,000 men of the National Guard have already been activated and another 2,000 could arrive from other states to quickly provide the necessary aid.
As the alarms continue, many citizens are working to shelter their homes before escaping with sandbags and barriers on the windows. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady’s football team, also run for cover.
Their training has been moved to Miami, at the Miami Dolphins sports complex. Sunday’s game between the Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs, scheduled in Tampa, remains scheduled for now but the NFL will continue to monitor the situation, reserving the right to decide whether or not to suspend the match.