© Reuters. A view of a closed restaurant by the beach ahead of Hurricane Ian, in Fort Myers, Florida, U.S. September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Marco Bello
(Reuters) – More than 50,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida as Hurricane Ian approaches the state’s west coast early Wednesday, according to local power companies.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast the “rapidly intensifying Ian” would cause “catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida Peninsula.”
The storm was located about 65 miles (100 kilometers) west southwest of Naples, Florida, and was packing maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Wednesday morning.
Florida Gulf Coast residents emptied grocery shelves, boarded up windows and fled to evacuation shelters as Hurricane Ian barreled closer on Wednesday, lashing the state’s southern tip hours before it was forecast to make U.S. landfall.
The following table lists major outages by utility:
Power Company State/Pro Out Now Customers Served
vince
NextEra – Florida FL 39,400 5,280,000
Lee County Electric Co-op FL 10,900 238,000
Total Out 50,300
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