Daunting satellite images show bolts of lightning sparking around the massive, swirling eye of Hurricane Ian — as the “apocalyptic” storm approaches Florida Wednesday after already knocking out power in Cuba.
The timelapse by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration came as more than 2.5 million people in the Sunshine State have been urged to evacuate before the eye is expected to hit there late Wednesday.
Other images from space showed the massive storm cutting an unmissable swath across the globe as it moved through the Caribbean Sea.
“Air Force Hurricane Hunters find Ian has strengthened into an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane,” the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
It is “expected to cause life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding” across Florida, the advisory warned.
“Very recent data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 140 mph with higher gusts … Ian is forecast to approach the west coast of Florida as an extremely dangerous major hurricane,” it warned.
While the edge will hit early today, “the center of Ian is forecast to move over central Florida tonight and Thursday morning and emerge over the western Atlantic by late Thursday,” the hurricane center said.
“Catastrophic wind damage is likely where the core of Ian moves onshore,” it stressed.
A hurricane warning covering roughly 220 miles of the state included Fort Myers as well as Tampa and St. Petersburg, which could get their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
#ian now at 155mph trying it’s best to become a cat5! This will be one of the strongest hurricanes in southwest Florida history. pic.twitter.com/GCcDW29Mmh
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) September 28, 2022
