HURRICANE IAN RAVAGES PARTS OF FLORIDA

More than 2.5 million customers across Florida were without power this morning, Thursday September 29th, after Hurricane Ian, now a tropical storm, walloped the state as one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States, causing widespread devastation and flooding that trapped residents in their homes.

Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm this morning after slamming into Florida’s southwest coast as a major Category 4 hurricane yesterday afternoon, bringing winds of 150 mph and life-threatening storm surge. 

Maximum sustained winds dropped to near 65 mph with higher gusts early today, but the storm has continued to cause destruction as it moves northeast. Its center is expected to move off the east-central coast of Florida later Thursday before approaching the coast of South Carolina on Friday.

President Joe Biden today declared a major disaster in Florida over the devastation caused by Ian. The president ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in areas affected by the storm.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, power is slowly being restored for residents across the country following sweeping outages in Ian’s wake. (source NBC News)