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:
Ian moves closer to Florida’s west coast
Hurricane Ian was moving closer to Florida’s west coast, the National Hurricane Center said in its 2 a.m. ET update on the storm's position.
The eye of the Category 3 storm was about 95 miles southwest of Naples, Florida, and was moving north-northeast at about 10 mph, officials said.
“On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to approach the west coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area this morning, and move onshore later today,” the update said.
Officials said the storm was expected to pass over central Florida on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, before emerging over the Atlantic Ocean late Thursday.
The hurricane was “expected to cause life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula,” the update said.
Miami-Dade County suspends transit service
Officials in Miami-Dade County suspended transit services at 1 a.m. ET on Wednesday, as Hurricane Ian approached Florida.
Florida’s most populous county halted its Metrobus, Metrorail, Metromover and Special Transportation Services until further notice, officials said in a news release.
-ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway
DeSantis tells Floridians time to evacuate is 'now'
Hurricane Ian is fast approaching Florida, and the time to leave is "now" if you're in an evacuation zone, Gov. Ron DeSantis said late Tuesday during a press conference.
"Your time to evacuate is coming to an end. You need to evacuate now. You're going to start feeling major impacts of this storm relatively soon," the governor said. "Now is the time to do it, and now is the time to act."
As of Tuesday night, about 8,000 people were without power in the southern part of Florida, officials said.
Conditions are expected to continue to deteriorate across central and south Florida, with landfall currently forecast sometime between Wednesday afternoon and early evening.
Elsewhere, a tropical storm warning is now in effect along the coast of Georgia and up to Charleston, S.C.
-ABC News' Darren Reynolds, Dan Peck
Biden spoke with DeSantis, White House press secretary says
President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday night with Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of Hurricane Ian's arrival "to discuss the steps the federal government is taking to help Florida prepare," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted.
"The president and the governor committed to continued close coordination," Jean-Pierre wrote.
-ABC News' Mary Bruce
Ian, a Category 3, expected to strengthen more
Ian, now a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds, has strengthened on Tuesday and is forecast to strengthen even more into the night.
The latest track shows Ian making landfall on Wednesday, striking the west coast of Florida between Tampa and Fort Myers, bringing flooding and damaging winds.
Hurricane warnings are in effect from Tampa to Fort Myers and storm surge warnings are in effect for a large portion of Florida’s west coast.
There is also a risk for tornadoes in Florida Tuesday and Wednesday.