Hurricane Ian nears Cuba on path to strike Florida as Category 4 storm

Hurricane Ian moved near the Cayman Islands and closer to western Cuba early Monday on a track to hit Florida as a major hurricane this week.

Ian was forecast to intensify rapidly and become a major hurricane as soon as late Monday, before becoming an even stronger Category 4 hurricane over warm Gulf of Mexico waters.It is expected to strike the west central coast of Florida on Wednesday.

Authorities in Cuba suspended classes in Pinar del Rio province and planned evacuations Monday as Ian gained strength on approach to Grand Cayman and the Cuban provinces of Isla de la Juventud, Pinar del Rio and Artemisa.

"Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds, also life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall," U.S. National Hurricane Center senior specialist Daniel Brown told The Associated Press early Monday.

The hurricane centre said Ian should reach far-western Cuba late Monday or early Tuesday, hitting near the country's famed tobacco fields. Cubastate media outlet Granma said authorities would begin evacuating people from vulnerable areas early Monday in Pinar del Rio. Classes there have been suspended.

At 8 a.m. ET on Monday, Ian was moving northwest at 22 km/h, about 145 kilometreswest-southwest of Grand Cayman, according to the centre. It had maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h.

Additional strengthening likely

Cayman Islands Premier Wayne Panton said in a video posted Sunday that members of the government and opposition were working together "to ensure that our people are made as safe as possible the supplies, plywood, in some cases sandbags, are distributed so that they can safely weather this storm.We must prepare for the worst and absolutely pray and hope for the best."

The hurricane centresaid: "Ian is not expected to spend much time over western Cuba, and additional strengthening is likely over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday. Ian is likely to have an expanding wind field and will be slowing down by that time, which will have the potential to produce significant wind and storm-surge impacts along the west coast of Florida."

A surge of up to 2.4 metresof ocean water and 25 centimetres of rain, with as much as 38 centimetresin isolated areas, was predicted for the Tampa Bay area. That's enough water to inundate low-lying coastal communities.

Florida residents were getting ready, lining up for hours in Tampa to collect bags of sand and clearing store shelves of bottled water.

A hurricane watch was issued for Florida's central western coast, including the Tampa Bay area, where Hillsborough County suspended classes through Thursday to prepare schools to serve as shelters for evacuees. Additional watches for more northern areas along the peninsula's west coast may be issued, Brown said.

State of emergency

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency throughout the stateand urged residents to prepare for the storm to lash large swaths of the state with heavy rains, high winds and rising seas.

"We're going to keep monitoring the track of this storm. But it really is important to stress the degree of uncertainty that still exists," DeSantis said at a news conference Sunday, cautioning that "even if you're not necessarily right in the eye of the path of the storm, there's going to be pretty broad impacts throughout the state."

Flash and urban flooding is possible in the Florida Keys and Florida peninsula through mid-week, and then heavy rainfall was possible for north Florida, the Florida panhandle and the southeast United States later this week.

The agency has advised Floridians to have hurricane plans in place and monitor updates of the storm's evolving path.

U.S. President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to co-ordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property. The president postponed a scheduled Sept. 27 trip to Florida because of the storm.

NASA, which had already cancelled Tuesday's launch of its new Artemis rocket, said Monday it will roll the 98-metre rocket from its launch pad back to its hangar beginning tonight.

The rollback of the Artemis rocket could meana lengthy delay for its firsttest flight, possibly pushing it into November.