MIAMI — Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Cayo Costa, an island off the coast of Fort Myers, at 3 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday.
The storm was already “causing catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding” in southwest Florida early Wednesday afternoon, the beginning of what promised to be a damaging path across the peninsula.
In a 3:05 p.m. update, the National Hurricane Center said the massive Category 4 storm made landfall on the southwest coast with 150 mph maximum sustained winds. The most immediate and life-threatening concern was storm surge — the waters of the Gulf of Mexico pushed inland by Ian.
