NORTH PORT, Fla. – The worst of Hurricane Ian slammed ashore in Southwest Florida on Wednesday with brutal rains and wind lashing everything in sight.
News4JAX reporter Vic Micolucci was in North Port as the powerful, dangerous eyewall of the storm battered the area.
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He and photojournalist Chris O’Rourke took refuge in a fire station but the wind nearly took the roof off.
Hurricane Ian made landfall as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., swamping city streets with water and smashing trees along the coast.
North Port police shut down emergency services in the mandatory evacuation zone Wednesday afternoon.
Micolucci and O’Rourke head out with first responders Thursday morning as search and rescue efforts began.
Micolucci said more than 560 people called 911 in the county as the Category 4 storm hit on Wednesday, and rescuers couldn’t respond until winds dropped to a safe level.
“That meant people had to fend for themselves for hours,” he said. “And that’s why you evacuate when officials say you should.”
The hurricane’s center struck near Cayo Costa, a protected barrier island just west of heavily populated Fort Myers, and the massive storm was expected to trigger flooding across a wide area of Florida as it crawls northeastward.
The Category 4 storm slammed the coast with 150 mph winds and pushed a wall of storm surge accumulated during its slow march over the Gulf of Mexico. The storm previously tore into Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the country’s electrical grid.
About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before the storm hit, but by law, no one could be forced to flee. Though expected to weaken as it marched inland at about 9 mph, Ian’s hurricane force winds were likely to be felt well into central Florida.
Ian’s windspeed at landfall tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane to strike the U.S., along with several other storms. Among them was Hurricane Charley, which hit almost the same spot on Florida’s coast in August 2004, killing 10 people and inflicting $14 billion in damage.
The governor said the state has 30,000 linemen, urban search and rescue teams, and 7,000 National Guard troops from Florida and elsewhere ready to help once the weather clears.
Ian made landfall more than 100 miles south of Tampa and St. Petersburg, sparing the densely populated Tampa Bay area from its first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921. Officials warned residents that Tampa could still experience powerful winds and up to 20 inches of rain.
More than 2 million homes and businesses are without electricity Thursday morning, and Florida Power and Light warned those in Ian’s path to brace for days without power.
The federal government sent 300 ambulances with medical teams and was ready to truck in 3.7 million meals and 3.5 million liters of water once the storm passes.