Watch live as Hurricane Ian devastates Florida!

Hurricane Ian quickly intensified as it made landfall along Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday morning. The eye of the hurricane hit the coast of Florida with maximum winds of 250 km/h, just short of the most dangerous category 5 status. Ian gained strength over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico after Cuba, leaving the entire island without electricity. Strong winds and rain hit the state, with the densely populated area from Naples to Sarasota at greatest risk of devastating storm surge. Millions of people are bracing for life-threatening storm surges, catastrophic winds and flooding. Over 2.5 million people in Florida have been evacuated. Florida’s governor said it was too late to evacuate those who had not yet done so and urged them to take shelter in place. A Category 4 storm is approaching the Tampa Bay region, one of the most vulnerable places in the US to severe flooding. More than 300,000 Florida electricity customers were left without power early Wednesday morning.