Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said the next two days in the state will be “nasty” as Hurricane Ian is set to make landfall imminently.
The Category 4 storm has maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, and DeSantis said at a press conference on Wednesday it could reach land as a Category 5 hurricane but that it is “clearly” a major, powerful hurricane regardless.
“This is gonna be a nasty, nasty day, two days,” he said.
DeSantis said officials expect the storm will exit the peninsula sometime on Thursday.
The storm’s winds are only 2 miles per hour away from being a Category 5 hurricane, the most powerful rating, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The Washington Post reported that only four hurricanes have been known to make landfall in the continental United States with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour or more.
The hurricane center said “catastrophic” wind damage and storm surge should be expected, and life-threatening flooding will occur across central Florida.
DeSantis has urged Florida residents in evacuation areas to seek higher ground to stay safe from the storm.
The storm has been slowing down as it approaches Florida and was only moving at 10 miles per hour as it was centered about 50 miles west-southwest of Naples on Wednesday morning.
The storm took out Cuba’s entire electrical grid as it passed the island country off Florida’s coast.