MIAMI — Ian strengthened early Wednesday into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with 155 mph winds just a tick below Cat 5 strength and a wind field that covered almost half of the state. The hurricane is forecast to whip most of Florida with catastrophic winds, flooding rain and life-threatening storm surge as it gets closer to a west coast landfall Wednesday afternoon.
The storm surge predictions soared overnight to 12 to 18 feet for Englewood to Bonita Bay, a forecast so high a new color was added to the National Hurricane Center’s peak storm surge prediction map.
Wednesday morning, Ian’s outer bands were already battering Southwest Florida with gusts up to 75 mph. South Florida saw tornadoes overnight that flipped small airplanes and took down big trees, and Key West recorded one of its highest ever storm surge levels overnight. Sea water still remained in many neighborhoods, including on sections of famed Duval Street and inside homes.
