Hurricane IanHurricane Ian Takes Aim at Florida After Leaving Cuba in the Dark

The National Hurricane Center said the eye will come ashore in Florida on Wednesday afternoon. Some 2.5 million residents have been asked to evacuate. All of Cuba was without power after the storm crossed its western provinces on Tuesday.

Follow the latest on Hurricane Ian by clicking here.

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The New York Times

Here’s what to know about Hurricane Ian right now.

Heavy rain is falling across parts of Florida as Hurricane Ian advances on the state, where its eye is forecast to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon, possibly as a Category 4 hurricane. The storm killed two people in Cuba and caused widespread damage and flooding.

The latest:

  • More than 2.5 million residents are under evacuation orders or advisories in parts of coastal Florida, where dangerous storm surges, flooding and powerful winds are expected across much of the state through the weekend.

  • Airports in the Tampa area closed on Tuesday afternoon, with others across Florida announcing a large number of flight cancellations.

  • Forecasters moved up their projected landfall for the storm’s eye by several hours, to early Wednesday afternoon, and said it could strengthen to a Category 4 storm. Ian passed west of the Florida Keys on Tuesday night and is expected to make landfall near Port Charlotte, just south of Sarasota. Follow the latest projections here.

  • The entire island of Cuba was without power on Tuesday evening, the Ministry of Mines and Energy said. Officials said the power company was working to restore power and hoped parts of the grid would be working by Wednesday morning.

Mike Ives
Sept. 28, 2022, 1:27 a.m. ET

Officials in the Florida Keys were reporting significant flooding and wind gusts of over 60 miles per hour late Tuesday. But as of 1 a.m. on Wednesday, no mandatory evacuation orders had been issued for Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys and is the southernmost county in the state.

Mike Ives
Sept. 28, 2022, 12:38 a.m. ET

DeSantis urges evacuations and warns of ‘nasty weather.’

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A resident putting a ladder away after trimming limbs around his home with Hurricane Ian approaching on Tuesday in Sarasota, Florida.Credit...Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Tuesday urged residents in the storm’s path to evacuate, saying that Hurricane Ian would likely inflict severe damage across Florida when it makes landfall.

“You need to evacuate now,” he said at a news conference late Tuesday night, adding that some bridges could close as early as Wednesday. “You’re going to start feeling major impacts of this storm relatively soon.”

Mr. DeSantis said the storm would probably make landfall in Southwest Florida on Wednesday afternoon or evening as a Category 4 hurricane, meaning that it would have maximum sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour.

He warned of catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surges along Florida’s western coast, particularly the stretch from Naples to Sarasota, and said that the storm would probably not exit the state until Friday morning.

“This is a lot of nasty weather that we’re in store for over the next few days,” he said.

At least two tornadoes had been detected as of Tuesday night, and tornado watches would be in effect in central and southern Florida until 5 a.m. on Wednesday, he said. A watch indicates that conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form.

About 8,000 customers were without power, he added, and that number was expected to rise into the millions.

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Andrés R. Martínez
Sept. 28, 2022, 12:26 a.m. ET

The National Hurricane Center has issued a storm surge warning for the lower part of the Florida Keys. Ian is now passing west of the Keys, bringing “life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding.” Images from the Keys are showing significant flooding.

Mike Ives
Sept. 27, 2022, 11:25 p.m. ET

Gov. DeSantis warned of severe effects across Florida, starting in southwestern counties, and said that the storm would probably not exit the state until Friday morning. “This is a lot of nasty weather that we’re in store for over the next few days,” he said.

Andrés R. Martínez
Sept. 27, 2022, 11:23 p.m. ET

With all of Cuba without power, internet traffic has dropped to less than half of normal levels, according to NetBlocks, an internet monitoring service.

Mike Ives
Sept. 27, 2022, 11:10 p.m. ET

Gov. DeSantis said that 8,000 customers were without power in southeastern Florida and that 30,000 personnel were standing by to help respond to outages.

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Mike Ives
Sept. 27, 2022, 11:05 p.m. ET

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is speaking at a news conference.

Victoria Kim
Sept. 27, 2022, 11:00 p.m. ET

Gov. DeSantis, who has in recent weeks been sparring with the president over his gambit of sending migrants to Martha’s Vinyard, said in an interview with Fox News that he was thankful for the Biden administration’s swift approval of an emergency declaration. With lives at stake, they were working together “regardless of party lines,” he said.

Victoria Kim
Sept. 27, 2022, 10:58 p.m. ET

President Biden spoke to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida Tuesday evening to discuss federal support as the state prepares for what is expected to be major damage as Hurricane Ian makes landfall on its west coast, according to the White House.

Víctor Manuel Ramos
Sept. 27, 2022, 9:18 p.m. ET

Greg Willis, a spokesman with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, said that Jacksonville International Airport planned to remain open as long as airlines are still flying. “Once all flights are canceled, the airport will close.”

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Andrés R. Martínez
Sept. 27, 2022, 8:57 p.m. ET

The entire island of Cuba is now without electricity after a collapse of the power grid, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. Officials are working to restore power through Tuesday evening and Wednesday.

Frances Robles
Sept. 27, 2022, 8:14 p.m. ET

Reporting from Key West, Fla.

Weather conditions in Key West, Fla., are now too dangerous for workers to respond to power outages, the electric company told customers Tuesday night. Keys Energy Services crews are standing down until daybreak, weather permitting.

Traci Carl
Sept. 27, 2022, 7:53 p.m. ET

The outer bands of Hurricane Ian are already impacting southern Florida. Much of the region has been told to be prepared for possible tornadoes, and the National Hurricane Center says the Key West International Airport is experiencing tropical storm force winds, with a reported gust of 71 m.p.h.

Sept. 27, 2022, 7:32 p.m. ET

Patricia MazzeiCharles Ballaro and

Florida’s low-lying Gulf Coast is vulnerable to storm surge.

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Filling sand bags at a beach near Tampa in preparation for Hurricane Ian’s arrival.Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

TAMPA, Fla. — With so many near-misses over the decades, it had become common to believe Florida’s Tampa Bay region was somehow protected from hurricanes. The last one hit more than a century ago, in 1921, inundating much of Tampa and surrounding towns.

Since then, gleaming high-rises have multiplied in downtown Tampa along the Hillsborough River. Shiny new condos look out on the bay in St. Petersburg. Home values in wealthy enclaves like Shore Acres have crept higher and higher, even though many of the properties are barely a foot above sea level.

As Hurricane Ian winds its way north after swiping western Cuba, the Tampa Bay region and southwest Florida could now face a level of destruction that many who live along the densely populated coast and its white-sand beaches have never experienced. No matter where the storm hits, millions of people will be affected.

Cuba was already suffering. The entire island was without power on Tuesday night after a collapse of the power grid, the country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy said. Officials said the power company was working to restore power, with the hope that some parts of the grid would be working by Wednesday morning.

Ian is forecast to make landfall in southwest Florida as a major hurricane on Wednesday night, with winds up to 130 miles per hour and the biggest storm surge — up to 12 feet — predicted roughly between Sarasota and Naples. That surge and accompanying rainfall are of particular concern for the state’s western coast because the Gulf of Mexico is shallow, leaving excess water with no place to go but onto land. That geographical quirk helps explain why local officials have urged 2.5 million people in eight counties to evacuate.

Floridians on the Gulf Coast have watched Ian’s wobbly track with increasing anxiety, emptying out supermarkets, hardware stores and gas stations even far from the hurricane’s projected landfall. With evacuations underway up and down the coast, highways and major roads leading east have been jammed with traffic.

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Flood barriers were put up around Tampa General Hospital to help protect it from the storm. Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times
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Mia Duval and her dog, Ezra, evacuated from a flood-prone area to Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg.Credit...Bob Croslin for The New York Times

Most everyone, it seemed, had received the message that a storm need not hit a community directly for it to be disastrous.

“I’d rather have the house blow away without me than with me,” Roger Glaim said as he and his wife, Muriel, both 92, checked into an emergency shelter at North Port High School in Sarasota County on Tuesday.

“Just trying to be safe,” Muriel Glaim added.

Hurricane Ian killed at least two people in Cuba, prompted most of Florida’s school districts to cancel classes and led to a pre-emptive state of emergency declaration in Georgia.

On Monday, it appeared that Hurricane Ian could be what many experts have long warned is Florida’s near-worst case scenario: a storm that drowns vast swaths of property — and endangers lives — along the densely populated coasts of Tampa Bay and the adjacent stretch of the Gulf of Mexico.

“It will be like blowing up a balloon,” said W. Craig Fugate, a former Florida chief emergency manager who later ran the Federal Emergency Management Agency, describing how water could swell in Tampa Bay. “Once it starts pushing, it’s going to go up.”

By Tuesday, as Ian’s path shifted east, those worries had eased slightly for Tampa Bay, which could be spared the worst side of the storm. But similar concerns had sprung up for Charlotte Harbor, a shallow inlet between Sarasota and Fort Myers.

The most recent major hurricane to hit this part of the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Charley in 2004, was also supposed to make a direct hit on Tampa Bay but shifted at the last minute and made landfall as a Category 4 storm around Punta Gorda. That storm was smaller, moved quickly and produced more wind damage to buildings and trees than flooding.

“The storm surge that you’re going to see generated from this is going to far eclipse what we saw there,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press briefing in Sarasota on Tuesday morning, comparing Ian with Charley.

Mr. DeSantis also warned that Ian is a much larger storm, a fact underscored by its effects being felt across southern parts of the state even before it made its Florida approach in earnest.

“This thing’s the real deal,” Mr. DeSantis said on Tuesday evening in Tallahassee. “It’s a major, major storm.”

A semiannual king tide flooded streets in the Florida Keys as Hurricane Ian’s rain bands swirled through, causing small power outages. Downpours inundated Miami. In preparation for worsening conditions, Disney said it would close some of its resorts near Orlando beginning on Wednesday. The Orlando airport said it would halt commercial flights on Wednesday.

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Residents made sand bags for their homes at a distribution site in North Port, Fla.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times
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North Port High School will serve as an evacuation shelter for Hurricane Ian.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Officials at Tampa International Airport said flight operations had been halted on Tuesday evening and the airport would fully shut down on Wednesday. The airport is close to Tampa Bay, so storm surge and flooding are a top concern, said John Tiliacos, the executive vice president of airport operations.

“To my knowledge, we have never had a storm of this magnitude that’s impacted us,” he said.

The 1921 storm, the most destructive to hit the Tampa area since 1848, was so powerful that it wrecked coastal structures for miles and smashed ships against docks after pulling them off their moorings. The Tampa/Tarpon Springs Hurricane, as the storm is known, made landfall on Oct. 25 with winds of about 120 miles per hour, a velocity that would have made it a Category 3 storm.

In 2015, a report from Karen Clark and Co., a catastrophe modeling firm based in Boston, called Tampa Bay the most vulnerable place in the United States for hurricane storm surge, pegging possible losses from such flooding at $175 billion. In 2013, a study by the World Bank ranked Tampa as the seventh most vulnerable city to storms in the world.

Home to more than three million people, with about 700 miles of shoreline, the region is vulnerable even to minor storms because the Gulf of Mexico is shallow, said David S. Nolan, a professor in the atmospheric sciences department at the University of Miami. By comparison, storm surge in Miami can funnel back out to the Atlantic Ocean more quickly because the ocean floor there drops hundreds of feet not far from shore.

Then there’s Tampa Bay, which is also shallow and is enclosed by low-lying land on three sides. If winds hit at a certain angle — like if a storm turns inland to make landfall just north — they can blow a lot of water onto land, especially if the storm slows down.

“It’s just a very particular geometry of that bay,” Dr. Nolan said. “The way it’s positioned, it’s difficult for a hurricane to take a track that’s going to blow wind into the bay continuously.”

Martha Kohen, an architecture professor at the University of Florida who runs the Center for Hydro-generated Urbanism, has studied the area’s low-lying communities and said she worries about both the lack of elevation and the stock of older, weaker homes that could be in the path of Hurricane Ian’s storm surge. Florida tightened its building codes to withstand stronger storm winds after Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992.

“It’s not going to be possible to rebuild in the same way,” she said. “Insurance will pay back once, maybe twice, but you have to change your location or change your elevation to be able to have insurance again.”

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Clearwater Beach, Fla., before the arrival of Hurricane Ian, which is expected to bring strong winds and storm surge to the Tampa Bay area.Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times
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Rich Jerard, left, and James Helbig, employees of the Surfside Taphouse, boarding up the business in Clearwater Beach.Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

By noon on Tuesday, Shannon Fusco, the principal of North Port High School, was coordinating evacuee check-in.

“During Irma, we staffed the school and had close to 4,000 people and 2,000 animals,” she said, referring to the 2017 storm. “We have no way of knowing how many people are coming.”

Harbor Cove, a large community of manufactured homes and canals along the Myakka River west of North Port, was under mandatory evacuation orders and pretty much a ghost town on Tuesday. One resident who remained, Jim Belanger, was only there to finish packing before heading to a shelter for a couple of days.

In Largo, between Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Nancy Chulla, 72, prepared to leave her 1963 mobile home in Coquina Cove Residence RV Park. But first, she had an important task.

Her husband, Bob, 80, died of cancer in May. She took the box with his cremated remains, sat at the end of her dock as the mullet jumped and tipped his ashes into the water. She had planned to do so on Oct. 15, his birthday, but worried that her home might not survive the storm.

“It was what he had wanted,” she said.

“People say, ‘Are you sure you want to go back?’” she said of living on such a vulnerable patch of land. Her answer is always yes: “I have my own beach. I don’t want to give it up.”

Patricia Mazzei reported from Tampa, Fla., Charles Ballaro from North Port, Fla., and Elisabeth Parker from Largo, Fla. Reporting was contributed by Camila Acosta from Havana, Mike Ives from Hong Kong, Frances Robles from Key West, Fla., and Jenny Gross, Christine Hauser, and April Rubin from New York.

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Ang Li
Sept. 27, 2022, 7:24 p.m. ET

Drone footage shows long lines of vehicles on an interstate highway near Tampa, Fla., after a mandatory evacuation order was issued for parts of the city.

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Ang Li
Sept. 27, 2022, 6:21 p.m. ET

Video on social media shows police officers in Bradenton, Fla., driving through neighborhoods in the city on Tuesday, alerting residents of mandatory evacuation orders as Hurricane Ian moves toward the state.

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Livia Albeck-Ripka
Sept. 27, 2022, 6:01 p.m. ET

“You’re going to likely have power go out in lots of parts of the state as this thing goes through,” Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said in a news conference on Tuesday. He added, “You’re talking about really, really, significant impacts.”

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Credit...Ricardo Arduengo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Juston Jones
Sept. 27, 2022, 5:54 p.m. ET

“The time to evacuate is now,” Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, urged any Floridians in the path of the storm who still were unsure about whether to evacuate. “Get on the road.” He spoke during a news conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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Livia Albeck-Ripka
Sept. 27, 2022, 5:51 p.m. ET

As of 3 p.m. on Tuesday, almost 100 shelters had been opened across Florida for evacuees, Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news conference. He said that 56 school districts had announced closures, while 15 hospitals and more than 100 healthcare facilities along the Gulf Coast had also been evacuated.

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Credit...Bob Croslin for The New York Times
Juston Jones
Sept. 27, 2022, 5:53 p.m. ET

“This thing is the real deal,” DeSantis said. “It is a major, major storm.”

Remy Tumin
Sept. 27, 2022, 5:50 p.m. ET

In a 5 p.m. advisory, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center moved up their projected landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast to early Wednesday afternoon. Ian is moving about 10 miles per hour with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour as a Category 3 hurricane. Forecasters said it could reach Category 4 status, with winds of 130 miles per hour or more, before it makes landfall.

Brooks Barnes
Sept. 27, 2022, 5:29 p.m. ET

Orlando's mega-tourism sites will largely shut down: Disney World said it would close its six theme parks on Wednesday and Thursday, along with some lodging options (campgrounds, certain villas) and outdoor shopping areas. Universal had already announced similar closures. Disney World, founded in 1971, has previously closed eight times because of hurricanes, most recently in 2019.

Remy Tumin
Sept. 27, 2022, 4:40 p.m. ET

Florida residents scramble for sandbags, exhausting supplies.

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Jason Warram was preparing sandbags to be distributed throughout the community in North Port, Fla., on Tuesday. Many counties are struggling to keep up with demand.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Residents across Florida scrambled to secure their homes ahead of Hurricane Ian, forming long lines for sandbags and quickly depleting supplies.

In Pasco County, north of Tampa, where evacuation orders are in place, officials ran out after distributing more than 260,000 sandbags. The demand was so high that the county asked neighboring Hillsborough County for an additional 125,000 bags, said Andrew Fossa, Pasco’s director of emergency management. But Hillsborough County said it was “at capacity” at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

“The lines are very long. People are grabbing them left and right. That’s why we had a limit of 10 bags per household,” he said at a morning news conference. “Be kind. This is a community event. We don’t need tempers flaring out at the sandbag sites.”

Manatee County exhausted supplies after distributing more than 200,000 sandbags to residents. The city of Tampa ran out of sandbags after handing out more than 96,150 bags over the past two days, officials said. Residents were limited to 10 bags and had to provide proof of residency.

In North Miami, which is not forecast to bear the brunt of the storm, residents were allowed to pick up a maximum of four sandbags with a proof of residency. Other Miami neighborhoods were taking a bring-your-own-bag approach with mounds of sand and a shovel available for self-service. Self-service options were also available in Orange County, which includes Orlando.

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Camila Acosta
Sept. 27, 2022, 4:21 p.m. ET

Reporting from Havana

Hurricane Ian has left at least two people dead as it passed through Cuba's west, according to local news reports. One was a man in San Juan y Martínez who was electrocuted while trying to disconnect a wind turbine that he used to irrigate his field. The second was a 43-year-old woman, Damaris Calunga, who died in San Luis when one of the walls of her house collapsed.

The New York Times
Sept. 27, 2022, 4:19 p.m. ET

In Ian’s wake, flooding, fallen power lines and extensive damage in western Cuba.

Credit...Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters; Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press (3).

Hurricane Ian slammed the western provinces of Cuba on Wednesday morning, knocking out electricity and flooding homes. The aftermath revealed mangled roofs, downed trees and streets laden with debris. Some residents, displaced by the destruction, were trying to find shelter.

April Rubin
Sept. 27, 2022, 4:16 p.m. ET

Georgia is now bracing for Hurricane Ian. Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency, to begin at 7 a.m. Thursday and end at midnight on Friday. The storm will move through Georgia from Friday to Sunday, the governor’s office said. Kemp and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency activated a state operations center on Monday.

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Credit...Megan Varner/Associated Press

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Frances Robles
Sept. 27, 2022, 3:50 p.m. ET

Reporting from Key West, Fla.

The Florida Keys will be dealing with storm surge days after Hurricane Ian passes.

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Floodwaters had already covered some streets of Key West, Fla., on Tuesday.Credit...Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen, via Associated Press

KEY WEST, Fla. — Hurricane Ian’s winds are expected to intensify Tuesday evening in the Florida Keys, but the massive storm surge that meteorological experts keep warning about is not actually expected until later in the week, the National Weather Service said.

“After the winds subside, there will still be strong rain squalls throughout the Florida Keys, and that’s when the water is expected to rise,” said Jon Rizzo, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service-Key West. “We are expecting water to reach its peak on Thursday and continue to flood the streets and the bay side all the way through Friday.”

By then, water levels are likely to be three feet above normal high tides, roads will be impassable, and some homes and businesses may see flooding, he said.

Sean Plambeck
Sept. 27, 2022, 3:47 p.m. ET

If Hurricane Ian proves to be particularly deadly or destructive, the name Ian will be removed from the rotating list of names used for Atlantic hurricanes. Since that convention began in 1953, a total of 13 names beginning with the letter I have been retired — Ida, Igor, Ike, Inez, Ingrid, Ione, Iota, Irene, Iris, Irma, Isabel, Isidore and Ivan. That is more than for any other letter.

Scott McIntyre
Sept. 27, 2022, 3:34 p.m. ET

Residents checking in on Tuesday at North Port High School in southwestern Florida, which was serving as an evacuation shelter.

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Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times
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Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

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Elisabeth Parker
Sept. 27, 2022, 3:10 p.m. ET

Reporting from Tampa, Fla.

Nearly 300 Publix supermarkets in central and southwest Florida are closing at 6 p.m. or earlier on Tuesday, and won’t reopen until after Hurricane Ian passes, the company said. Customers stocking up before the storm have crowded the stores in the last few days, and long lines could be seen Tuesday afternoon at the Publix store in Largo, near St. Petersburg.

April Rubin
Sept. 27, 2022, 3:06 p.m. ET

A majority of Florida public schools have canceled classes, many to become shelters.

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Workers boarded up the historical Henry B. Plant Museum’s hall on the campus of the University of Tampa, ahead of Hurricane Ian on Tuesday.Credit...Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

As Hurricane Ian drew closer to Florida, schools and universities across the state continued to announce closures and class cancellations for the week.

More than 50 of the state’s dozens of school districts canceled classes, many through Friday, according to the Florida Department of Education, which continuously updated its list as school districts provided news. About 30 colleges and universities also said they would close their campuses and cancel classes.

Florida has five of the ten largest public school districts in the United States — all of which announced closures. They included Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Orange and Palm Beach counties.

Many public schools in the state became evacuation shelters, so it was unclear when they might be available again for students.

The Manatee County district, located south of Tampa on the Gulf Coast and along the path of the hurricane, closed schools Tuesday until further notice. The school district and the county’s emergency management set up 17 shelters, where residents began to move into on Tuesday.

SAT testing was rescheduled in Flagler County from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 and classes were canceled in the district, which is on Florida’s east coast, south of St. Augustine.

“This is not a decision we take lightly, but we want to give our families enough time to prepare their homes for this storm or evacuate the area if they feel that is the best option for them,” said Cathy Mittelstadt, the Flagler Schools’ superintendent. “We also need to use this time to prepare the emergency shelter space our campuses offer, should people be asked to evacuate.”

A Florida State University alert said students who choose to stay in Tallahassee will be advised to follow a shelter-in-place protocol. Boxed meals would be delivered to the residence halls before the storm.

At the University of South Florida, students living in residence halls in the St. Petersburg location were relocated to the Tampa campus if they did not have alternative housing options.

The University of Florida canceled all classes, including online, from Wednesday through Friday.

The University of Miami, a private school, said classes on its Coral Gables and Marine campuses would move online, as well as some from its medical campus. Dining halls and athletics would continue to operate normally.

Remy Tumin
Sept. 27, 2022, 3:03 p.m. ET

After crossing Cuba, Hurricane Ian remains a Category 3 storm. Anthony Reynes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said “there’s still a chance” that it “could briefly peak as a Category 4” sometime Wednesday morning into the early afternoon. “It’s a possibility, but it’s not set in stone,” he said. “It’s still going to be a major hurricane by the time it’s expected to be on the west coast of Florida.”

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April Rubin
Sept. 27, 2022, 2:54 p.m. ET

A satellite view shows Ian swirling and flickering with lightning.

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CreditCredit...By Cira/csu & Noaa

A satellite library at Colorado State University posted this visual, which tracks about two hours of Hurricane Ian moving across the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday. The library operates with the collaboration of the Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Frances Robles
Sept. 27, 2022, 2:20 p.m. ET

Reporting from Key West, Fla.

Drivers seeking higher ground for their cars are lined up in Big Pine Key, Fla.

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Jesus Jiménez
Sept. 27, 2022, 1:58 p.m. ET

Sports teams adjust their schedules, but the Buccaneers say Sunday’s home game is still on.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved to a different training facility in Florida, but their game with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Tampa is still scheduled. Credit...Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

As Hurricane Ian brings the threat of dangerous flooding, powerful winds and torrential rain, a number of sports teams have adjusted their schedules to avoid cancellations and disruptions.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers said on Monday that the team would relocate to Miami-Dade County on Tuesday to practice at the training facility for the Miami Dolphins. The team said no changes have yet been made to its schedule for Sunday night, when the Buccaneers are set to face the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

The Tampa Bay Lightning said on Monday that the team was postponing its preseason games on Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes and Thursday against the Nashville Predators.

College football teams are also making changes to their schedules. The American Athletic Conference said in a statement on Tuesday that a game between East Carolina University and the University of South Florida, originally set for Saturday night in Tampa, Fla., will move to Saturday afternoon in Boca Raton, Fla., at FAU Stadium, home of Florida Atlantic University.

After Hurricane Ian moves through Florida, it is expected to track north through portions of Georgia and the Carolinas by Saturday. The storm’s forecast prompted a game between South Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina, originally set to be played on Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C., to be moved up to Thursday night at the same stadium.

“Due to the potential impact of the hurricane on Columbia and the surrounding area, it is in the best interest of safety to play the game on Thursday rather than Saturday afternoon,” Ray Tanner, University of South Carolina athletic director, said in a statement on Tuesday.

A game on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., between the University of Florida and Eastern Washington University was moved to Sunday, the teams announced on Tuesday.

Other sporting event changes are possible as the storm’s path becomes clearer.

The storm could bring wind and rains to Atlanta this weekend, when the Braves are set to host the New York Mets for a three-game series that begins on Friday. The crucial set of games, which could ultimately decide who wins the N.L. East title ahead of the M.L.B. playoffs, were still scheduled as planned, but officials said they were keeping an eye on the storm.

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Camila Acosta
Sept. 27, 2022, 1:56 p.m. ET

Reporting from Havana

With the hurricane continuing to batter Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, even after its eye moved offshore, parts of Havana have been plunged into darkness by a power outage. Despite the heavy rains and strong winds, some people are out seeking food and basic supplies, lining up under sheltering overhangs to buy a piece of chicken or a bottle of oil.

Alan Rappeport
Sept. 27, 2022, 1:38 p.m. ET

President Biden on Tuesday urged Floridians to evacuate when they are ordered to do so and to be prepared for Hurricane Ian when the storm comes. “Your safety is more important than anything,” he said during remarks at the White House.

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Charles Ballaro
Sept. 27, 2022, 1:16 p.m. ET

Reporting from Port Charlotte, Fla.

Harbor Cove, a large Florida community of manufactured homes and canals along the Myakka River west of North Port, is pretty much a ghost town today. One resident, Jim Belanger, finished packing and said he was going to a shelter at North Port High School with plans to stay for a couple of days. Sarasota County has issued mandatory evacuation orders for coastal and low-lying areas like Harbor Cove.

Frances Robles
Sept. 27, 2022, 1:15 p.m. ET

Reporting from Key West, Fla.

The National Weather Service said that so much rain had fallen since Monday night in the upper and middle Keys that its estimates of total rainfall expected had gone up by a full 25 percent. The agency had initially said to expect four to six inches, with isolated instances of eight inches of rain. It now expects six to eight inches of rain, with isolated maximums of 10 inches.

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Credit...Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen, via Associated Press

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Alan Rappeport
Sept. 27, 2022, 1:11 p.m. ET

The White House said that President Biden held separate calls on Tuesday with Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa, Mayor Ken Welch of St. Petersburg and Mayor Frank Hibbard of Clearwater to discuss Hurricane Ian preparations and federal government assistance.

Alan Rappeport
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:52 p.m. ET

Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said on Tuesday that at President Biden’s direction she had spoken with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday to offer support. She urged Floridians not to underestimate the threat of Hurrican Ian and to listen to local officials, saying, “Get ready.”

Frances Robles
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:35 p.m. ET

Reporting from Key West, Fla.

Hurricane Ian is expected to bring more storm surge than usual in part because it is coinciding with the semi-annual king tide, when water levels reach their highest. Many streets in Key West are already under water, though the storm itself has yet to reach Florida.

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Credit...Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen, via Associated Press
Christine Chung
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:31 p.m. ET

Ed McCrane, the Sarasota County emergency management chief, emphasized at a Tuesday news conference that residents can bring their pets with them when seeking shelter. “Every single evacuation shelter in Sarasota County is pet friendly,” he said. Here are some things to consider for those evacuating with pets.

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Frances Robles
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:27 p.m. ET

Reporting from Key West, Fla.

Hurricane Ian has begun knocking out power to small groups of electric customers in the Florida Keys. About 1,000 customers lost electricity at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday for about 90 minutes, according to a spokesman for Keys Energy Services. Smaller outages have continued throughout the day as tree branches get knocked into power lines, said the spokesman, Julio Torrado, and more are likely.

Elisabeth Parker
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:21 p.m. ET

Reporting from Tampa, Fla.

Scores of people milled around a sports-field parking lot in Clearwater, Fla., on Tuesday morning, hoping to get sand to fill sandbags, but a city worker appeared and told them none would be delivered there. Nancy Conn, who was with her Cairn terrier, Cookie, said she had moved to Clearwater from Atlanta three and a half years ago. “I told my neighbor, I’m kinda looking forward to it,” she said of the storm.“‘Tell me that in a few days,’” he said.

Camila AcostaOscar Lopez
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:19 p.m. ET

Camila Acosta and

Hurricane Ian brings 125 m.p.h. winds and heavy rain to Cuba.

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Hurricane Ian brought heavy rain and wind to Cuba, where it made landfall as a Category 3.CreditCredit...Ismael Francisco/Associated Press

HAVANA — Hurricane Ian lashed Cuba on Tuesday with heavy rain and winds of up to 125 miles per hour, knocking out power to the entire island and killing two people, according to the authorities.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy said the power grid had collapsed in the wake of the storm, leaving the country in the dark as it tried to recover from heavy flooding and extensive damage. Before the sun set, residents braved wind and rain to search for food and basic supplies, lining up under overhangs to buy a piece of chicken or a bottle of oil.

At least two people were killed, according to local news reports. One was a man in San Juan y Martínez who was electrocuted while trying to disconnect a wind turbine that he used to irrigate his field. The second was a 43-year-old woman who died in San Luis when one of the walls of her house collapsed.

Cuba’s western provinces, where the hurricane made landfall, have been the hardest hit. Videos shared on social media from the town of Coloma, along Cuba’s southern coast, showed people inside their homes with water up to their knees.

The hurricane comes as Cuba continues to recover from one of the worst periods of financial hardship in the country’s history, with the nation’s ailing infrastructure already producing widespread power blackouts. The financial misery, along with ongoing political repression, sparked one of the largest protest movements in decades last year.

The island has long borne the brunt of Atlantic storms. In 2008, two hurricanes, Gustav and Ike, blasted across the country, leaving at least seven people dead, damaging crops and buildings, and setting off more than 150 landslides in Havana.

On Tuesday, flooding in western Cuba damaged houses and tobacco crops, an important agricultural industry. In the municipality of San Luis, north of the city of Santiago de Cuba, one of the largest tobacco growing areas had been decimated.

Thousands of families were evacuated and widespread power outages were reported in the western city of Pinar del Río. Tourists in places like Varadero, a popular beach resort in the country’s north, were relocated to more secure locations.

Camila Acosta reported from Havana, and Oscar Lopez from Mexico City.

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Axel Boada
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:13 p.m. ET

A video shared with The New York Times shows heavy rain in Pinar del Río, a city in western Cuba near where Hurricane Ian made landfall.

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Jenny Gross
Sept. 27, 2022, 12:01 p.m. ET

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are temporarily moving their practice sessions from Tampa to the Miami Dolphins’ training complex in Miami Gardens, Fla. Tampa Bay’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday is still on, though the N.F.L. said it would continue to monitor the situation.

Christine HauserVíctor Manuel Ramos
Sept. 27, 2022, 11:31 a.m. ET

Christine Hauser and

Closures and delays ahead as Florida airports brace for Ian.

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The Tampa International Airport closed at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Credit...Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Florida airports were reporting flight delays, cancellations and even closures ahead of the hurricane force winds expected along much of the state beginning Wednesday morning.

Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando had announced the grounding of all their flights as precautionary measures, while others were reporting delays in parts of the state outside the hurricane’s path and its associated watches and warnings.

Tampa International Airport — which was in the middle of the hurricane’s projected path as of Tuesday evening — had canceled more incoming flights than any other airport in the United States as of Tuesday afternoon, registering 146 cancellations and 15 delays for the day, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. It suspended all operations as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.

At a news briefing on Tuesday morning, John Tiliacos, the airport’s executive vice president, had said the closure would affect 450 flights a day. A team of about 120 employees have volunteered to ride out the storm at the airport, he said.

The airport is close to Tampa Bay, so storm surge and flooding are a top concern, he said. “We are talking potentially a lot of water that could be on our airport,” Mr. Tiliacos said. He added, “To my knowledge, we have never had a storm of this magnitude that’s impacted us.”

The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport closed even earlier, as of 1 p.m. on Tuesday, with the last flight scheduled to depart at 11:22 a.m. Michelle Routh, a spokeswoman, said the airport, located near the waters of the Old Tampa Bay by the state’s west coast, was in a mandatory evacuation zone and that it would reopen when it “is deemed safe for operations.”

The Orlando International Airport, in central Florida, said it would close on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., out of “an abundance of caution,” said Carolyn Fennell, a spokeswoman.

“We’ve begun the operations of preparedness for the storm, tying down or removing any equipment on the ground that could become a projectile,” she said. “A lot of our terminals have glass doors, so we put sandbags there, and then we are communicating with the airlines.”

Ms. Fennell said a crew would ride out the storm, staying behind for critical maintenance, but most employees were being sent home.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport said there were delays and cancellations because of the storm, but the airport was still operating. The airport had seen 22 cancellations and 119 delays as of Tuesday afternoon, said Arlene Satchell, a spokeswoman.

Miami International Airport remained open Tuesday, with officials saying that the Federal Aviation Administration and individual airlines would determine whether to operate flights. The Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports were advising passengers to confirm their flight statuses with their airlines before arriving at the terminals.

Jacksonville International Airport planned to remain open as long as airlines deem it safe to fly, said Greg Willis, a spokesman with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. “Once all flights are canceled, the airport will close,” he said.

Joseph W. Lopano, chief executive of the public authority that manages the Tampa airport, said that airlines were also moving aircraft to safer places on Tuesday. He said the economic impact of closing the airport would be “in the millions.” He added, “unfortunately Ian is not giving us a choice.”

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Mike Ives
Sept. 27, 2022, 10:47 a.m. ET

A major hurricane has not hit Tampa since 1921.

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A flooded waterfront in Tampa, Fla., in 1921.Credit...Florida Maritime Museum/Manatee County Public Library System

Hurricanes are a way of life in Florida, but a major one has not hit the Tampa Bay area in more than a hundred years.

A hundred and one, to be precise.

In October 1921, a hurricane that slammed into southwest Florida sent coastal waters rising by up to 11 feet, killing at least eight people, causing widespread destruction and flooding parts of downtown Tampa, according to the National Weather Service.

The Tampa/Tarpon Springs Hurricane, as the storm is known, made landfall on Oct. 25 with winds of about 120 miles per hour, a velocity that would have made it a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale that is now used widely to measure Atlantic hurricanes. (The scale defines “major” hurricanes as Category 3 or higher.)

The 1921 storm, the most destructive to hit the Tampa area since 1848, was so powerful that it wrecked coastal structures for miles and smashed ships against docks after pulling them off their moorings. Most of the eight deaths attributed to the storm were drownings caused by extra water pushed toward shore, the Weather Service said in a 2013 video.

More recent storms have caused extensive damage in southwest Florida, including Hurricane Charley of 2004, which made landfall with winds of 145 miles an hour but spared the Tampa Bay area.

But the 1921 storm remains the primary case study for forecasters who want to understand “more or less the worst case scenario” for Tampa, said Austen Flannery, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in the city.

“Obviously there was a lot of significant impacts from flooding and storm surge, and it showed how vulnerable the region is,” Mr. Flannery said by phone before dawn on Tuesday morning.

“That does certainly drive a lot of the planning for today, in terms of how to better prepare,” he added.

But planning for storms in Tampa is challenging because the city’s geography — beaches that slope into a shallow seafloor — makes it especially vulnerable to storm surges. Some of the city’s urban areas also sit in areas that were ravaged by the 1921 storm, according to the Weather Service.

The National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday that Tampa Bay was among the coastal areas of southwest Florida that could see five to 10 feet of extra water from rising seas as Ian drew near. A storm surge warning was in effect for Tampa, signaling a danger of life-threatening inundation, and many residents along the edges of the bay were busy evacuating.

Daniel VictorChristine Chung
Sept. 27, 2022, 9:52 a.m. ET

Here’s where people are being evacuated in Florida.

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Marci McGee packed essentials as she prepared to evacuate her home in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Tuesday.Credit...Joe Raedle/Getty Images

As Hurricane Ian approaches, several coastal counties in western Florida have begun evacuations, urging their most vulnerable residents to find shelter. The evacuations include parts of Tampa, Florida’s third most-populated city.

Each county has its own map of evacuation zones, and residents can use online tools to see what level of precaution is recommended at their address. For those looking for a shelter, the American Red Cross has a tool to find one nearby.

Evacuation orders could be expanded as the storm nears the coast, but here is the status as of Tuesday afternoon.

  • In Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for coastal areas on Monday and another order on Tuesday for some inland areas. Residents can use an online tool to see their evacuation status. People under the orders must evacuate by 9 p.m. on Tuesday. A list of shelters is available here and you can sign up for emergency alerts here.

  • Pasco County, just north of Tampa, ordered mandatory evacuations for some areas on Monday, with voluntary evacuations elsewhere. Shelters will be available starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday; a list of shelters can be found here, and an interactive map of evacuation zones here.

  • Hernando County, further north of Tampa, ordered a mandatory evacuation on Tuesday of all areas west of U.S. Highway 19, which includes residents in coastal and low-lying areas. Manufactured homes countywide are also under this order. One pet-friendly public shelter is available and another is open for those with special needs. You can sign up for emergency alerts here.

  • Citrus County, also north of Tampa, ordered a mandatory evacuation on Tuesday of all low-lying areas west of U.S. Highway 19 and several sections east of the highway. A list of evacuation zones, emergency shelters and additional resources can be found here.

  • Collier County, south of Fort Myers, issued a voluntary evacuation order on Tuesday for residents in “immediate coastal areas” and people in mobile homes. The county has opened four pet-friendly emergency shelters. A list of evacuation zones can be found here.

  • Glades County, northwest of Fort Myers, has encouraged people living in mobile homes or in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding to voluntarily evacuate. One pet-friendly shelter will be open at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

  • Highlands County, further inland, has issued a voluntary evacuation of areas prone to flooding and homes without concrete slab foundations, such as mobile homes, recreational vehicles and trailers.

  • Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater, ordered evacuations for some areas beginning at 6 p.m. Monday, with more areas joining at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Residents can check their evacuation zone here.

  • Manatee County, which is south of St. Petersburg and includes Bradenton, ordered mandatory evacuations for some areas and voluntary evacuations for others, effective at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Residents can find their evacuation level here and information about shelters here.

  • Sarasota County, which extends from Sarasota to Englewood, called for the evacuation of some areas. People living in residential vehicles, mobile or manufactured homes, and boats must evacuate. Residents can look up their address here. Information about shelters is here; all are pet-friendly.

  • Charlotte County, north of Fort Myers, ordered an evacuation for some areas on Monday, including those living on barrier islands. Residents can check their evacuation zone here.

  • Lee County, which includes Fort Myers and Cape Coral, ordered evacuations for barrier islands and low-lying areas. An evacuation map is available here. Shelters began opening as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

  • Levy County, southwest of Gainesville, ordered residents living in mobile homes and recreational vehicles, or in low-lying areas and coastal areas to evacuate. These evacuations must be completed by noon on Wednesday; information on zones and other details is available here.

  • Taylor County, northwest of Gainesville, has issued a voluntary evacuation for low-lying, flood-prone and coastal areas. Evacuation zones are here. One pet-friendly shelter will be open by 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

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Derrick Bryson Taylor
Sept. 27, 2022, 8:55 a.m. ET

Ten days after Hurricane Fiona, many in Puerto Rico are still without power.

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A darkened street in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan on Friday.Credit...Erika P. Rodriguez for The New York Times

Ten days after Hurricane Fiona ripped through Puerto Rico, bringing more than 30 inches of rain and causing at least three deaths, hundreds of thousands of customers on the island were still without power.

As of Wednesday morning — when most eyes were on Hurricane Ian moving over Cuba — about 345,000 customers in Puerto Rico were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.Us, a website that aggregates data from utilities across the United States. That’s down from the 1.5 million electrical customers who were without power on Saturday, about a week after Hurricane Fiona, then a Category 1 storm, struck.

At least three people died and two were injured last week in accidents related to the power outage. A candle fire burned down a house in San Juan, killing two and injuring one. Another person died and another was sent to the hospital after being intoxicated with fumes from a generator.

The government of Puerto Rico on Saturday said that up to 16 people may have died as a direct or indirect result of the storm, though at least a dozen of those cases were still being investigated.

Restoring power to customers after a hurricane can be a complicated effort that sometimes requires time. But Puerto Rico, an island with an aged and fragile grid, has become notoriously vulnerable to both outages and extensive recovery time in recent years.

Hurricane Fiona drew parallels to Hurricane Maria, a near-category 5 storm that slammed Puerto Rico in 2017. That storm inflicted more damage on the island than any other disaster in recent history. Eighty percent of the island’s electrical system was damaged, leaving Puerto Ricans without power for months. The last house was not reconnected to the system until nearly a year later.

While Hurricane Fiona brought floods and strong winds across the island, damage to its power grid was not as evident as it was after Hurricane Maria. But some Puerto Ricans — who pay some of the highest electricity rates in the United States — said they had little patience to accept another prolonged blackout.

Daniel Victor
Sept. 27, 2022, 6:29 a.m. ET

It was a quiet hurricane season, until it wasn’t.

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Rebecca Hale placed storm shutters on her home in St. Petersburg, Fla., to prepare for Hurricane Ian in September, with help from her mother, Edda Howard.Credit...Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Atlantic hurricane season started slowly, with no hurricanes developing until Danielle reached Category 1 on Sept. 2. It was an unusually late date for the first arrival.

But the pace has picked up considerably since then.

Five more named storms followed Danielle in September: Earl, Fiona, Gaston, Hermine and Ian. (Storms developing in the Atlantic are given names when their wind speeds reach 39 miles per hour, making them tropical storms, and might be upgraded to hurricanes if they grow stronger.)

Of those storms, Earl, Fiona and Ian were upgraded to hurricanes.

Coming into the hurricane season, the U.S. National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration projected an “above normal” season, a projection it repeated in its most recent forecast on August 4. At the time, the agency said it expected 14 to 20 named storms, with six to 10 turning into hurricanes. But August was unusually quiet: There were no named storms in the month for the first time in 25 years.

The busy September has helped the season catch up with the projections. As of Tuesday, there have been nine named storms, with four hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs through the end of November; most hurricanes tend to form between mid-August and October.

By comparison, in 2021 there were 20 named storms by the end of September. Before Sept. 2 — the date Danielle became 2022’s first hurricane — there had been five hurricanes and an additional seven tropical storms.

This year, there were three tropical storms in June and early July: Alex, Bonnie and Colin. Alex caused flooding in South Florida and killed at least three people in Cuba. Bonnie, which caused the death of four people in Nicaragua and at least one in El Salvador, crossed Central America as a tropical storm and was briefly upgraded to a hurricane after a rare jump to the Pacific. Colin brought heavy rains to the Carolinas.

After a quiet August, September delivered some fiercer storms. Fiona proved the most damaging, knocking out Puerto Rico’s energy grid and leaving the island fearing an extended blackout, while Earl battered the Caribbean.

Gaston weakened over the North Atlantic over the weekend, while Hermine brought heavy rain to the Canary Islands.

Alex and Colin have been the only ones to directly hit the continental United States. Neither caused severe damage.

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Frances Robles
Sept. 27, 2022, 4:26 a.m. ET

Reporting from Key West, Fla.

In the Florida Keys, residents get ready for wind and rain, but not a direct hit by Ian.

KEY WEST, Fla. — From the balcony of her oceanfront condominium, Glenda Hoffman watched hurricane preparations unique to the Florida Keys: the towing of derelict boats that Cuban migrants had abandoned after reaching U.S. shores.

Crews were at work on Monday afternoon towing rickety vessels left behind by migrants. The barely seaworthy boats are peppered along the Keys coastline after a recent surge in migration. Now, with Hurricane Ian approaching, they are potential projectiles.

A tiny boat nestled outside Ms. Hoffman’s building has been there three months. A tow truck company hired by Monroe County was finally getting rid of it, along with several others visible from her window.

Ms. Hoffman was not particularly concerned about the potential arrival of Ian, which is projected to skirt the Keys on its way up the Gulf Coast of Florida. Key West was under a tropical storm warning on Monday afternoon. With the storm projected to emerge over the Gulf of Mexico and pass west of the Keys late on Tuesday, most Key West residents were taking the storm in stride.

No order to evacuate has been given, but Ms. Hoffman did not plan to heed one anyway.

Her building is made of concrete, she said, and has windows designed to sustain 170-mile per hour winds.

“I want to protect my property,” she said.

She bought two extra gallons of water, brought her plants and patio chairs inside and planned to fill her bathtub with water.

Hardware stores in Key West were buzzing with activity, but hardly overloaded with panicked shoppers.

“We’re in the Keys; we’re mellow here,” said Ralph Gonzalez, an information technology specialist who was trying to find a way to put a 6500-watt generator he had just purchased in the back of his S.U.V. “It’s the surge part that I’m listening about that concerns me.”

Mr. Gonzalez had not planned to buy a generator, but happened to see some at Home Depot and could not resist, despite the $899 price tag, which was still taped to the box. “I’d rather have electricity than not,” he said. “We are laid back, but safety first.”

Amanda and Tim Rothrock moved to Key West a year ago from Kentucky, so they made a special early trip to Strunk Ace Hardware for supplies. They purchased four five-gallon gas cans for their new generator.

“I went to the grocery store and the whole aisle was full,” Ms. Rothrock said. “I thought, am I overreacting?”

But they figured it was better to be prepared.

“We’ve been places where the evacuation was mandatory,” Mr. Rothrock said. “If you don’t leave and wish you did, there’s nobody coming for you.”

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