Orkanen Ian forventes at oversvømme Florida efter at have forladt Cuba uden strøm

Orkanen Ian forventes at ramme den amerikanske delstat Florida direkte onsdag, hvor prognosemænd advarer om livstruende stormfloder og "ødelæggende" vinde, efter at den angiveligt har dræbt to og efterladt millioner uden strøm i Cuba.

Fra kl. 02.00 (0500 GMT) var der udstedt obligatoriske evakueringsordrer i et dusin kystnære Florida-amter, med frivillig evakuering anbefalet i flere andre, ifølge statens embedsmænd i beredskabet.

I en meddelelse udsendt omkring samme tid sagde US National Hurricane Center (NHC), at det forventede, at kategori 3-stormen ville forstærkes, indtil den går i land.

"Ians centrum forventes at bevæge sig over det centrale Florida onsdag aften og torsdag morgen og dukke op over det vestlige Atlanterhav sent på torsdag," sagde NHC og kaldte stormen "en ekstremt farlig stor orkan."

NHC sagde tidligere, at en "livstruende stormflod forventes langs Floridas vestkyst og Lower Florida Keys," med "ødelæggende vindskader" forventet nær Ians kerne.

"Katastrofale oversvømmelser forventes på tværs af dele af det centrale Florida med betydelige oversvømmelser i det sydlige Florida, det nordlige Florida, det sydøstlige Georgia og kystnære South Carolina," hedder det.

Floridas guvernør Ron DeSantis sagde tirsdag, at Ian "sandsynligvis ville komme i land som en kategori 4-orkan."

Han sagde, at der allerede havde været mindst to "radar-indikerede tornadoer" i staten, og advarede dem i områder, der forventes at blive hårdest ramt, at deres "tid til at evakuere er ved at være slut."

"Du er nødt til at evakuere nu. Du vil begynde at mærke store påvirkninger af denne storm relativt snart," sagde han.

Opfordringer til at tage hensyn til advarsler om evakuering blev gentaget af den amerikanske præsident Joe Biden, som tidligere sagde, at Ian "kunne være en meget alvorlig orkan, livstruende og ødelæggende i sin indvirkning."

Pressesekretær i Det Hvide Hus, Karine Jean-Pierre, sagde, at Biden havde talt med DeSantis – en potentiel udfordrer til valget i 2024 – tirsdag aften for at diskutere forberedelserne til stormen.

Udbredt blackout

Ian kastede hele Cuba i mørke i tirsdags efter at have ramt landets vestlige del i mere end fem timer, før han flyttede tilbage ud over Den Mexicanske Golf, sagde Insmet meteorologiske institut.

Stormen beskadigede Cubas elnet og efterlod øen "uden elektrisk service," sagde det statslige elselskab Union Electrica.

Only the few people with gasoline-powered generators had access to electricity on the island of more than 11 million people. Others had to make do with flashlights or candles at home, and lit their way with cell phones as they walked the streets.

In the western city of Pinar del Rio, AFP footage showed downed power lines, flooded streets and a scattering of damaged rooftops.

"Desolation and destruction. These are terrifying hours. Nothing is left here," a 70-year-old resident of the city was quoted as saying in a social media post by his journalist son, Lazaro Manuel Alonso.

About 40,000 people were evacuated across Pinar del Rio province, which bore the brunt of the storm, local authorities said.

Two dead

Cuban residents described "destruction" and posted images on social media of flooded streets and felled trees.

At the time of impact, the NHC reported Ian's maximum wind speeds at 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour.

At least two people have been reported dead in Pinar del Rio province, according to Cuban state media.

In Consolacion del Sur, southwest of Havana, 65-year-old Caridad Fernandez said her roof was seriously damaged and water came through her front door.

"Everything we have is damaged," she said. "But we'll get through this, we'll just keep moving forwards."

In San Juan y Martinez, a hub for Cuba's vital cigar industry, "it was apocalyptic, a real disaster," said Hirochi Robaina from the Robaina tobacco plantation.

'Life and death'

In Florida, 30-year-old Chelsea Thompson was helping her parents board up their home on Tuesday in a mandatory evacuation zone southwest of Tampa, saying that "the closer it gets, obviously with the unknown, your anxiety gets a little higher."

The Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been called up in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.

Authorities in several municipalities were distributing free sandbags to help residents protect their homes from flooding.

Tampa International Airport suspended operations from Tuesday at 5 pm.

Biden has preemptively approved emergency aid in Florida through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

NASA, on the state's east coast, also took precautions, rolling back its massive Moon rocket into a storage hanger for protection.

Like DeSantis, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell highlighted the danger of storm surge, saying it was the agency's "biggest concern."

"If people are told to evacuate by their local officials, please listen to them. The decision you choose to make may be the difference between life and death," she said. + Udforsk yderligere

Hurricane Ian hits Cuba as Category 3 storm

© 2022 AFP