Hurricane Ian makes landfall along Florida Gulf Coast

A general view of St. Pete Beach bay as strong winds from Hurricane Ian arrive yesterday in St. Petersburg, Florida. (AFP)

Hurricane Ian plowed into Florida’s Gulf Coast with catastrophic force yesterday, assaulting the state with howling winds, torrential rain and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that made it one of the most powerful storms on record to hit the United States. Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, a barrier island and state park about 90 miles south of Tampa and just west of Fort Myers, as a Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds of up to 150mph, the US National hurricane Center (NHC) reported. The storm’s wind speeds put it just shy of a Category 5 designation on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the most severe classification for storms with maximum sustained winds of at least 157mph, though Ian was expected to weaken a notch after coming ashore, according to the NHC.