Sarasota County, Florida, officials announced emergency crews will no longer respond to calls due to Hurricane Ian.

In Charlotte County, just north of Fort Myers, emergency response calls for fire and EMS service will also be suspended.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office added, “911 will still be operational and calls will be triaged for response as soon as weather condition permit.”

An extreme wind warning has been issued near Fort Myers as Hurricane Ian nears.

Naples has reported a wind gust of 112 mph.

Fort Myers resident Debbie Levenson and her husband chose not to evacuate for Hurricane Ian and are staying put at home.

“Hurricanes are a concern, but I don't freak out about it. You do what you have to do. You get your supplies, make sure you have flashlights, do your laundry ahead of time in case you lose power,” she told ABC News. “We bought bottled water and wine. We put gas in the car. The store shelves were not empty.”

"We are concerned with local flooding, but we drained the pool and are keeping an eye on the roads,” she continued. “Most of the neighborhood has stayed. Neighbors only left if they had small children or had a medical reason.”

Ken Graham, director of NOAA's National Weather Service, warned people sheltering in place to not venture out once the storm passes over.

“Don’t go out there. It’s so dangerous to be out there. So even if you see the water receding, it’s not the time to go out,” he said.

-ABC News' Morgan Korn and Max Golembo

Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 with 155 mph winds, is nearing record-breaking wind levels.

Only four hurricanes have ever made landfall in the continental U.S. with winds over 155 mph: Labor Day in 1935 with 185 mph winds; Camille in 1969 with 175 mph winds; Andrew in 1992 with 165 mph; and Michael in 2018 with 160 mph.

Naples, Florida, reached a new record-high storm surge of 4.8 feet Wednesday morning -- and the water continues to rise.

This beats the record of 4.25 feet reached during Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Ken Graham, director of NOAA's National Weather Service, warned Wednesday, “This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come -- historic event."

Caribbean islands such as Jamaica and Grand Cayman will start to experience the effects from the outer bands of Tropical Storm Ian within the next 24 hours, forecasts show. The islands will experience conditions such as heavy rain, possible flash flooding and storm surge.

The storm system will begin to rapidly intensify overnight into Monday before it closes in on western Cuba on Monday night.

As of 2 p.m., the sustained winds in the tropical storm remained at 50 mph as it moved west-northwest at 12 mph, the center about 265 miles away from Grand Cayman.

Hurricane warnings are in effect for Grand Cayman and western Cuba, while tropical storm warnings and watches are in effect in other portions of both islands.

As a hurricane, Ian is expected to peak at a Category 4 before weakening slightly as it looks to make landfall on the west coast or panhandle of Florida in the coming days.

There is still some uncertainty to the track Ian will take once the system enters the Gulf of Mexico.

The center of the storm and the worst of the impacts could end up heading toward the western coast of Florida's peninsula, including the Tampa area. The other possible scenario has the storm moving more due north and bringing a possible landfall along the Florida peninsula, impacting cities like Panama City and Tallahassee with more direct effects.

The storm will begin to impact the Florida keys and the southern portions of the state by Tuesday night.

-ABC News' Dan Peck