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HAVANA, 26 Sep (AP) \u2014 Hurricane Ian was growing stronger as it approached the western tip of Cuba on a track to hit the west coast of Florida as a major hurricane as early as Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ian was forecast to hit the western tip of Cuba as a major hurricane and then become an even stronger Category 4 with top winds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) over warm Gulf of Mexico waters before striking Florida.<\/p>\n
As of Monday, Tampa and St. Petersburg appeared to be the among the most likely targets for their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease treat this storm seriously. It\u2019s the real deal. This is not a drill,\u201d Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley said at a news conference on storm preparations in Tampa.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Cuba suspended classes in Pinar del Rio province, sent in medical and emergency personnel, planned to evacuate 20 communities \u201cin the shortest time possible,\u201d and took steps to protect food and other crops in warehouses, according to state media.<\/p>\n
\u201cCuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds, also life threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall,\u201d U.S. National Hurricane Center senior specialist Daniel Brown told The Associated Press early Monday.<\/p>\n
At 11 a.m. EDT on Monday, Ian was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph), about 240 miles (385 kilometers) southeast of the western tip of Cuba, with top sustained winds increasing to 80 mph (130 kph).<\/p>\n
The center of the hurricane was passing to the west of the Cayman Islands, where Premier Wayne Panton said the government and its opposition were working together to keep the people as safe as possible. \u201cWe must prepare for the worst and absolutely pray and hope for the best,\u201d Panton said in a video posted Sunday.<\/p>\n
Ian won\u2019t linger over Cuba, but will slow down over the Gulf of Mexico, growing wider and stronger, \u201cwhich will have the potential to produce significant wind and storm surge impacts along the west coast of Florida,\u201d the hurricane center said.<\/p>\n
A surge of up to 10 feet (3 meters) of ocean water and 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain was predicted across the Tampa Bay area, with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) inches in isolated areas. That\u2019s enough water to inundate coastal communities.<\/p>\n
As many as 300,000 people may be evacuated from low-lying areas in Hillsborough County alone, county administrator Bonnie Wise said. Some of those evacuations were beginning Monday afternoon in the most vulnerable areas, with schools and other locations opening as shelters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must do everything we can to protect our residents. Time is of the essence,\u201d Wise said.<\/p>\n
Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to collect bags of sand and clearing store shelves of bottled water. Across the peninsula in Titusville, generators, gas cans, chain saws and weather radios were in demand, Ace hardware store owner Bill Pastermack said.<\/p>\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a statewide emergency, and warned that Ian could lash large areas of the state, knocking out power and interrupting fuel supplies as it swirls northward off the state\u2019s Gulf coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a significant storm that may end up being a Category 4 hurricane,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cThat\u2019s going to cause a huge amount of storm surge. You\u2019re going to have flood events. You\u2019re going to have a lot of different impacts,\u201d he said at a news conference in Tallahassee.<\/p>\n
DeSantis said the state has suspended tolls around the Tampa Bay area and mobilized 5,000 Florida state national guard troops, with another 2,000 on standby in neighboring states.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property. The president postponed a scheduled Sept. 27 trip to Florida because of the storm.<\/p>\n
Playing it safe, NASA began slowly rolling its moon rocket from the launch pad to its Kennedy Space Center hangar, adding weeks of delay to the test flight.<\/p>\n
Flash and urban flooding was predicted for much of the Florida peninsula, and then heavy rainfall was possible for the southeast United States later this week. With tropical storm force winds extending 115 miles (185 kilometers) from Ian\u2019s center, watches covered the Florida Keys to Lake Okeechobee.<\/p>\n
Bob Gualtieri, sheriff of Pinellas County, Florida, which includes St. Petersburg, said in a briefing that while no one will be forced to leave, \u201cmandatory\u201d evacuation orders are expected to begin Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat it means is, we\u2019re not going to come help you. If you don\u2019t do it, you\u2019re on your own,\u201d Gualtieri said.<\/p>\n
Zones to be evacuated include all along Tampa Bay and the rivers that feed it, MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa International Airport and well-known neighborhoods such as parts of Hyde Park, Davis Islands and Ybor City.<\/p>\n
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch urged residents not to ignore any evacuation orders. \u201cThis is a very real threat that this storm poses to our community,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n
The hurricane center has advised Floridians to have survival plans in place and monitor updates of the storm\u2019s evolving path.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest problem is that people tend to wait until the last minute,\u201d Pastermack said between customers. \u201cI\u2019m always the last person to get prepared, which is kind of ironic.\u201d<\/p>\n
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