Hurricane Ian downgraded to tropical storm as it continues to batter Florida

Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday morning, but officials person warned the almighty tempest that brought life-threatening tempest surges, floods that near radical stranded successful their homes and knocked retired powerfulness to much than 2.5 cardinal customers was not over.

President Joe Biden connected Thursday declared a large catastrophe successful Florida implicit the devastation caused by the storm. He ordered national assistance to supplement authorities and section betterment efforts successful areas affected by the tempest starting Sept. 23 and onward, the White House said successful a statement.

Ian had maximum sustained winds of adjacent 65 mph with higher gusts aboriginal Thursday arsenic it moved dilatory done cardinal Florida connected its mode to the occidental Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

By 5 a.m., Ian was astir 55 miles southwest of Cape Canaveral and moving northeast astatine 9 mph, the hurricane halfway said.

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Ian made landfall adjacent Cayo Costa astir 3 p.m. Wednesday arsenic a almighty Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds, forecasters said.

The tempest is believed to beryllium 1 of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded making landfall successful Florida.

Around 2.5 cardinal customers successful Florida were without powerfulness aboriginal Thursday aft Ian struck the state's occidental coast, causing a way of demolition arsenic it moved toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais said Wednesday evening the harm is extended successful the county, which includes Cayo Costa, Fort Myers and Cape Coral. The afloat scope of the interaction was not known arsenic the tempest and winds inactive raged.

Rescue crews were forced to hold for conditions to amended earlier going to the assistance of radical stranded by precocious water.

In Lee County, determination were besides reports of vehicles "floating retired into the ocean," but Sheriff Carmine Marceno said officials were not capable to analyse oregon respond to calls of radical trapped until winds dropped beneath 45 mph.

"Those that are successful need: We privation to get to you, and we volition get to you arsenic soon arsenic possible," helium said successful a video code soon earlier 8 p.m.

Terry Mazany hunkered down connected the 22nd level of a Fort Myers high-rise with his woman and his 91-year-old parent arsenic the h2o roseate and winds whipped the building.

"We are trapped. There is 8 feet of h2o astir us," Mazany, who moved to Florida from California a twelvemonth ago, told MSNBC. He noted that the elevators were besides unopen down.

"It started comparatively manageable but the past 12 hours we person dealt with that freight bid of 100-plus mile an hr winds shaking the building, swaying," helium said.

Though Ian was expected to proceed to weaken, the hurricane halfway cautioned that it could beryllium adjacent hurricane spot erstwhile it moved implicit Florida's eastbound seashore Thursday.

Central and northeast Florida could get 20 inches of rain, and life-threatening tempest surge remained a hazard for parts of Florida's occidental and eastbound coasts, the hurricane halfway said.

Florida's Atlantic seashore from northeast of Orlando into Georgia could spot tempest surge of 6 feet, it said.

Radar indicated that 4 to 5 inches of rainfall per hr was falling successful the hurricane's heavier bands Wednesday, said Jamie Rhome, acting manager of the hurricane center.

"Those are incredibly dense rainfall rates," Rhome said Wednesday nighttime connected MSNBC. The storm's dilatory velocity was prolonging the damaging upwind but besides expanding the imaginable for flooding, helium said.

The tracking website poweroutage.us put the fig of Florida customers without energy astatine much than 2.5 cardinal aboriginal Thursday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the strength of the tempest volition beryllium historic.

"At a minimum, it's going to beryllium a precise beardown Category 4 that's going to fertile arsenic 1 of the apical 5 hurricanes to ever deed the Florida peninsula," helium said.

The hurricane is forecast determination crossed cardinal Florida and beryllium implicit the Atlantic Ocean aboriginal Thursday.

But it past volition apt crook northbound and attack the northeastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts Friday, according to the hurricane center.

The governors of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have declared states of exigency up of the storm's arrival.