Dear Friend,
The eyewall of Hurricane Ian with dangerous winds near Category 5 status has begun to make landfall over Sanibel and Captiva islands in southwest Florida, according to the National Weather Service, as the system is expected to barrel its way up toward Orlando tonight.
At 2 p.m., the NHC said the center of Ian was located about 25 miles west-southwest of Fort Myers, about 50 miles south-southwest of Punta Gorda and 145 miles south-southwest of Orlando moving north-northeast at 9 mph. That’s right on the doorstep of Cayo Costa State Park where Hurricane Charley first struck in 2004 before carving a path up Charlotte Harbor and into Central Florida.
The National Weather Service in Tampa posted an “Extreme Wind Warning” for parts of Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties including Cape Coral, Estero, Bonita Springs and Sanibel. it’s no longer possible to safely evacuate, and those in these counties are being asked to stay in place.
By 2:30pm nearly 650,000 people in the state were without power, mostly in Collier, Charlotte, Lee, Sarasota, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties according to poweroutage.us.
We encourage those in Central Florida to not wait before hunkering down with heavy rains coming.
Much of Central Florida is now also under a tornado watch until 5 p.m. as outer bands of Ian have already produced several damaging twisters and multiple tornado warnings as they have moved up through the state overnight. The National Weather Service said it includes Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Polk and Seminole counties.
Click here to know what to do when faced with a tornado.
At 12:50 p.m. the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for a portion of east Central Florida including Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Volusia.
“Flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations is imminent or occurring,” their statement read as already 2-4 inches have fallen from the outer bands of Ian with another 2-3 possible this afternoon.
Of course, the situation in Southwest Florida is dire — we are sending love to all impacted Floridians and are committed to helping everyone recover.
Need help identifying your local shelters? Visit this link.
Finally: The Florida Department of Health, in coordination with its county health departments and each local emergency management agency in the state, developed a registry for persons with special needs to register with their local emergency management agency to receive assistance during a disaster. The statewide registry provides first responders with valuable information to prepare for disasters or other emergencies. Click here to learn more.
We encourage you to follow your local government officials online. We’ll share updates as they are made known, too.
Yours in service,
Rep. Anna V. Eskamani