The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday warned Floridians to heed evacuation warnings stemming from Hurricane Ian, which has strengthened into a major storm, informs usnews.com.
“I can tell you that our biggest concern as we wait for the storm to make landfall is storm surge,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a White House press briefing on Tuesday. “And I will note that storm surge is a leading cause of hurricane-related fatalities.”
She noted that in 2018, storm surge from Hurricane Michael killed five people in Florida.
“So, therefore, if people are told to evacuate by their local officials, please listen to them,” Criswell said. “The decision you choose to make may mean the difference between life and death.”
Areas under partial or full evacuation orders include Hillsborough County, Pasco County, Pinellas County, Manatee County, Sarasota County, Charlotte County, Citrus County, Hernando County, Levy County, Lee County and St. Johns County.
The center of Hurricane Ian is expected to move over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and approach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. It is currently a Category 3 hurricane, though it is expected to re-strengthen Tuesday through Wednesday after it made landfall in Cuba early Tuesday. The National Hurricane Center expects Hurricane Ian to approach the west coast of Florida as an “extremely dangerous major hurricane.”
“We’re talking about impacts in a part of Florida that hasn’t seen a major, direct impact in nearly 100 years,” Criswell said. “There’s also parts of Florida where there’s a lot of new residents that have never experienced this type of threat.”
According to the National Hurricane Center, life-threatening storm surge is increasingly likely along much of Florida’s west coast, with the highest risk from Fort Myers to the Tampa Bay area, which is the region where the storm is expected to make landfall.
“By the time it reaches the shores of Florida the storm is going to slow down to approximately 5 miles per hour,” Criswell said. “And this is significant because what this means is that Floridians are going to experience the impacts from the storm for a very long time.”
Starting Wednesday morning, hurricane-force winds are expected in the areas under hurricane warning in southwest and west-central Florida. Tropical storm conditions are expected on Tuesday evening.
“Residents should rush all preparations to completion today,” the National Hurricane Center stated.
