The Tampa Police Department warned the public to “stay off the roads,” as it shared a video of a large traffic light crashing down in front of a police vehicle in Ybor City, near downtown Tampa.
The storm is projected to bring potentially “life-threatening” floods, storm surge and winds to parts of Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina as it makes its way toward northeast Florida and then approaches the South Carolina coast on Friday.
The center downgraded Ian from a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday. DeSantis said the storm was still dangerous to many Floridians.The National Hurricane Center said Ian, which is heading toward Florida’s northeast with maximum sustained winds of about 65 miles per hour, is expected to further weaken Friday night and into Saturday but may re-intensify at times, and “could be near hurricane strength” on Friday when it approaches South Carolina.
Ian battered parts of Florida’s western coast, tearing down trees and power lines and causing dangerous storm surges in parts of the state. Authorities in Fort Myers, which was badly hit,late Wednesday that parts of the city were under 3 to 4 feet of water. To the south in Naples, half of the streets “are not passable due to high water,” Collier County warned in a tweet.
Hurricane warnings that were in effect for parts of Florida’s east and west coasts were changed early Thursday to tropical storm warnings. Several airports across the state suspended commercial operations and canceled flights.
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