Hurricane Ian updates: Florida death toll climbs
Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers, accounts for most of the fatalities.
The remnants of Ian are charging up the East Coast on Saturday after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in South Carolina on Friday afternoon.
The monster storm made its first U.S. landfall on Wednesday on Florida's west coast as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, shredding homes with ferocious winds topping 150 mph. Florida's death toll has climbed to at least 81, according to information from local officials.
Latest headlines:
About 2.5 million Floridians under evacuation orders
As Hurricane Ian heads toward Florida, officials’ main concern is the threat of storm surge and catastrophic flooding, Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.
DeSantis reiterated that there is still time to prepare or evacuate.
About 2.5 million Floridians are under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, he said.
-ABC News’ Alex Faul
Tornado watches issued in South Florida
Tornado watches have been issued in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Naples and Key West as Hurricane Ian approaches.
The watches are in effect until 5 p.m. Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Latest forecast shows landfall in Tampa Bay area
The forecast has shifted significantly east, now with landfall expected in the Tampa Bay area Wednesday night into early Thursday morning as a Category 3 hurricane.
This would mark Tampa Bay’s first direct hit from a major hurricane since 1921.
Slow-moving Ian is expected to drop more than 15 inches of rain from Tampa to Orlando.
Major flooding is possible in Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Hurricane Ian makes landfall after strengthening to major storm
Hurricane Ian made landfall over western Cuba early on Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.
“Satellite and radar data indicate that the center of Ian has made landfall just southwest of the town of La Coloma in the Pinar Del Rio Province of Cuba at 4:30 a.m.,” the center said.
Ian’s winds at landfall were estimated at a maximum of 125 mph, making the storm a Category 3 hurricane.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Central Florida seeing 500-year flood event, damage will take years to repair, DeSantis says
There is potentially major flooding in Orange and Seminole counties and St. Johns River, potentially up to Jacksonville in northeast Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.
"The amount of water that's been rising and will likely continue to rise today, even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flood event. And I know Seminole County has done evacuations, I know they've opened shelters, but we're gonna see a lot of images about the destruction that was done in southwest Florida and obviously we have massive assets there," DeSantis said.
"This storm is having broad impacts across the state and some of the flooding you're going to see in areas hundreds of miles from where this [storm] made landfall are going to set records. And that's going to obviously be the things that will need to be responded to," DeSantis added.
The damage caused by the storm will likely take years to repair, he said.
"You're looking at a storm that's changed the character of a significant part of our state. And this is going to require not just emergency response now, in the days or weeks ahead. I mean, this is going to require years of effort to be able to rebuild and to come back," DeSantis said.