Hurricane Ian lashes Cuba, aims at Florida as possible Cat 4
A strengthening Hurricane Ian’s rain and winds are lashing Cuba’s western tip as it roared on a path that could see it hit Florida’s west coast as a Category 4 hurricane
HAVANA (AP) — A strengthening Hurricane Ian’s rain and winds lashed Cuba’s western tip, where authorities have evacuated 50,000 people, as it roared on a path that could see it hit Florida’s west coast as a Category 4 hurricane.
Officials in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province set up 55 shelters, rushed in emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in Cuba’s main tobacco-growing region ahead of Ian's expected landfall early Tuesday as a major hurricane. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the island’s west coast could see as much as 14 feet (4.3 meters) of storm surge.
“Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds, also life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall,” hurricane center senior specialist Daniel Brown told The Associated Press.
