SEPTEMBER 29, 2022:
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian has left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people. It’s now aiming for the Atlantic Coast as a tropical storm. One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. is drenching the Florida peninsula overnight, threatening catastrophic flooding. In Port Charlotte, the storm surge flooded a lower-level emergency room even as winds tore off part of the roof of its intensive care unit. Staff and patients, some on ventilators, crowded into the middle floors of the four-story hospital.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2022:
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., (AP) — The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Ian has rapidly intensified off Florida’s coast, gaining top winds of 155 mph, just shy of the most devastating Category 5 hurricane status. Ian is pushing a storm surge that could cause catastrophic damage along the state’s heavily populated Gulf Coast from Bonita Beach to the Tampa Bay region. Forecasters say the stretch from Naples to Sarasota is at highest risk. At least 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate. Winds and rain have begun intensifying, a day after Ian battered the western tip of Cuba, leaving the entire island without electricity.
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