(CNN) – Hurricane Ian – now a stronger and “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm – is beginning to lash Florida with major flooding and devastating winds as it advances across much of the state’s west coast with the potential to hit within hours causing catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge.
“Conditions are rapidly deteriorating along the coast of southwest Florida,” the National Hurricane Center tweeted Wednesday morning, with Ian’s center just 60 miles offshore.
The area between Naples and Sarasota faces the greatest threat of dangerous storm surge, the hurricane center said earlier, with more than 2.5 million people advised to flee, including 1.75 million under mandatory evacuation orders.
After storming Cuba on Tuesday, causing an island-wide power outage, Ian is focusing on Florida’s vulnerable Gulf Coast, where residents have been boarding and departing en masse on busy highways. Schools, supermarkets, theme parks, hospitals and airports have announced closures. The Navy has moved its ships and the Coast Guard has closed ports.
Parts of far southern Florida are already starting to feel the storm’s first effects, with tropical storm force winds and at least two possible tornadoes in Broward County, including at North Perry Airport, where planes and hangars were damaged. Major flooding was reported in Key West due to storm surge and power outages.
“The time to evacuate is now,” Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Tuesday, calling Ian “a statewide event.”
As winds increase, officials may close bridges, complicating evacuations for those who don’t leave right away. Gas stations may also temporarily run out of fuel, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
Water levels already reached about 21 feet above Mean Higher High Water — the third highest after 2005’s Hurricane Wilma and 2017’s Hurricane Irma, CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford said.
A hurricane warning is in effect for Florida’s Gulf Coast from Chokoloskee to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, and in the Dry Tortugas. A storm surge warning is in effect for coastal areas, including Tampa Bay.
Life in Florida has been turned upside down as residents prepare for landfall
In Tampa, police went door-to-door Tuesday in a mandatory evacuation zone to make sure residents were ready to flee.
Previous projections had Hurricane Ian on track to hit Tampa Bay directly, which would have been the first direct hit in 100 years. While the hurricane’s path has shifted south, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said mandatory evacuations and preparations continue.
“It doesn’t matter where it lands, if it comes just south of us, we’re not going to come out of this unscathed and there’s going to be flooding throughout the Tampa Bay area,” Castor said.
The governor warned that “catastrophic” flooding and life-threatening storm surges will occur across the Gulf Coast region, with the greatest risk in Southwest Florida from Naples to Sarasota.
Preparations across the state have been going on for days as residents brace for Ian’s wrath. People lined up to pick sandbags or flocked to stores to stock up on supplies such as water and batteries.
And as the hurricane got closer, the closures began.
Across Florida, 58 school districts announced closures due to this storm, as campuses turned into shelters for those evacuating from their homes.
Disney World will close Wednesday and Thursday, and so will the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Hundreds of Publix supermarkets closed their doors Tuesday evening and were expected to remain closed through Thursday.
As millions of people evacuated, 176 shelters were opened statewide and hotels and Airbnbs became available for people leaving evacuation zones, the governor said.
Local governments and government agencies have also prepared people living in nursing homes and other elderly care facilities for evacuation.
Florida has about 6 million residents over the age of 60 — nearly 30% of the total population, according to the state’s Department of Elder Affairs. As of Tuesday, all adult daycare centers, senior cafes and transportation services in evacuation zones will be closed, according to the department.
Authorities also prepared services to fan out and respond to calls for rescue and then, in the aftermath of the hurricane, recovery and repair efforts.
Nearly 400 ambulances, buses and support vehicles responded to areas where the hurricane was expected to make landfall, according to the governor’s office.
DeSantis activated 5,000 Florida National Guard members for Ian’s response operations, and another 2,000 Guardsmen from Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina are also being activated to assist.
Officials in Florida were also preparing to activate the state’s urban search and rescue teams.
“We have five state teams that are activated and another five FEMA teams that are in play,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said at a news conference Tuesday evening. “We have over 600 resources available in addition to these out-of-town teams.”
After landing, Ian will crawl over Florida
Hurricane Ian’s strengthening is well defined, with a clear eye, National Hurricane Center Acting Director Jamie Rhome said in a Tuesday evening update.
“This is not what you want to see in the eastern Gulf of Mexico,” Rhome said.
When the hurricane hits, rising waters are expected to flow inland from the coastline, causing life-threatening flooding and flooding in coastal areas.
Millions of people have been warned of storm surges, including the Suwannee River south to Flamingo, Tampa Bay and the Dry Tortugas.
The area from Longboat Key to Bonita Beach, including Charlotte Harbor, could see a storm surge of up to 12 feet, according to the hurricane center.
Warnings are also in effect on the state’s east coast, from the Flagler-Volusia county line to the mouth of the St. Mary’s River and along the St. Johns River.
After landfall, Ian is expected to creep through the central part of the state, with damaging winds bringing the threat of tornadoes through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The slow progression will “dump a tremendous amount of rain across the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
Ian is expected to dump at least two to three months’ worth of rainfall on Friday. Central and Northeast Florida are expected to receive 5 to 7 inches of rain, while the Florida Keys and South Florida could receive 6 to 8 inches of rain.
Central Florida is expected to experience “widespread catastrophic flooding, urban flooding and riverine flooding,” while the southern part of the state should brace for “significant flash flooding, urban flooding and riverine flooding,” the center said.
Current forecasts call for the hurricane to work its way from Southwest Florida into the central part of the state, then emerge over the Atlantic Ocean late Thursday, after which it could strengthen again and hit another part of the U.S. .