Hurricane Ian is battering Florida with a "catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding"

Hurricane Ian is “battering the Florida Peninsula with catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding” after making landfall just south of Punta Gorda, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The maximum sustained winds have decreased slightly to 140 mph, as the center traverses land. But Ian remains a Category 4 hurricane.

Ian is expected to remain a hurricane through the day and into tomorrow as the center of the storm moves northeast over the Florida Peninsula, passing close to Orlando and Daytona Beach, before passing back into moving back into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday afternoon.

“Further weakening is expected for the next day or so, but Ian could be near hurricane strength when it moves over the Florida East Coast tomorrow, and when it approaches the northeastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts late Friday, “ the hurricane center said.

Fort Myers mayor says Hurricane Ian is the worst storm he's ever seen

Kevin Anderson, the mayor of Fort Myers, Florida, said this is the "worst storm" he has ever seen — with more of Hurricane Ian still yet to come.

The mayor described the scene downtown in the eye of the storm, just before the second wall is set to pass through. In the time that he was on a call with CNN on Wednesday, Anderson said he watched the water rise as much as six inches.
"“I’ve been here since the mid-70s — this is actually by far the worst storm I have ever seen," Anderson said."

"It's going to be a significant event... or it already is. Now we just got to wait and see. We're coming out of the edge of the eye and who knows what the next couple hours will bring," he said, adding that businesses are flooded and windows of buildings are blown out.

The mayor said there are some people who chose not to follow the evacuation orders, but now "they're stuck."

"The streets are flooded and emergency services couldn't get to them if they wanted to," he said.

"I'm actually watching a guy out in the intersection right now, the water up past his knees and he's out there taking pictures. Why people choose not to do the prudent things, who knows?" Anderson added.