WATCH LIVE: What you need to know as Hurricane Ian hits Florida

Palm trees sway in high winds as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwest Florida, Sept. 28, 2022. NYTSTORM.[Filed with Beam. ID: Ev3Ypdbc4x0x4SDMlLGj.].NYTCREDIT: Johnny Milano for The New York Times

Palm trees sway in high winds as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwest Florida, Sept. 28, 2022. NYTSTORM.[Filed with Beam. ID: Ev3Ypdbc4x0x4SDMlLGj.].NYTCREDIT: Johnny Milano for The New York Times
Local News
By Staff Reports
Updated Sept 28, 2022
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Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida Wednesday afternoon as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in U.S. history.

Tops winds have climbed to 155 mph, making it just shy of a Category 5 — the most dangerous one — as Hurricane Ian flooded streets and buildings, knocked out power to more than one million people and threatened catastrophic damage further inland, according to the Associated Press.

The hurricane made landfall shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday near Cayo Costa, Florida, just west of Fort Myers, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Catastrophic winds and storm surges of 12 to 18 feet above ground level are expected along Florida’s southwest coastline, from Englewood to Bonita Beach. In addition to damaging wind gusts, multiple tornadoes also are expected, according to the hurricane center. Heavy rainfall will take place across the Florida peninsula through Thursday and reach the southeast U.S. later this week and into the weekend.

Get the latest updates from the Associated Press through the day.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the entire state earlier this week and President Joe Biden directed federal agencies to pull all available resources in the region to prepare for the impact of Hurricane Ian and to support response and recovery efforts. Biden also approved an emergency declaration earlier this week after receiving the request from DeSantis.

“This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days,” DeSantis said, urging people in Ian’s path along the Atlantic coast to rush to the safest possible shelter and stay there.

As of Wednesday, there were 1,300 federal response workers in Florida to help with emergency preparations, according to the White House. Fuel, propane, generators, and meals have been staged across the region as well.

ExplorePHOTOS: Hurricane Ian is almost a Category 5 hurricane

Ohio Task Force 1 was activated Saturday and left Sunday morning for Alabama ahead of the storm. Crews announced Wednesday they were headed to Florida to get closer to the area expected to need relief. The convoy included 14 semis, trucks, buses, boats and trailers.

The Butler County Emergency Management Agency deployed Tuesday along with police and fire crews from Englewood, Hamilton, Monroe and Oxford, plus Liberty, Oxford, Ross, Wayne and West Chester townships to help coordinate rescue missions. EMA Director Matt Haverkos said the team will be based Wednesday at the Orange County Convention Center and then will be directed to where they are needed.

The U.S. Air Force moved aircraft from Florida to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to get them out of harm’s way.

AES Ohio teams left Wednesday to head south and provide support for recovery efforts.

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