MIAMI — Tropical Storm Ian moved off Florida’s east coast and into the Atlantic Thursday morning, where it’s expected to strengthen into a hurricane again as it approaches South Carolina.
Ian was about 25 miles north-northeast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, and about 285 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina, as of the National Hurricane Center’s advisory at 11 a.m. Thursday. It has maximum sustained winds near 70 mph with higher gusts and is moving north-northeast at 9 mph.
While Ian is much weaker than when it hit Florida’s southwest coast as a devastating Category 4 hurricane Wednesday afternoon, the large storm caused “catastrophic flooding” over east-central Florida early Thursday as it trekked closer to the Atlantic. It battered parts of Florida with strong winds, heavy rain and storm surge.
