Tonight, mandatory evacuation orders are already underway for hundreds of thousands of Florida residents as hurricane Ian gained strength as it bears down state’s west coast. Residents are filling up sandbags and waking to grocery stores clearing the entire inventory of bottled water and other non-perishable food items. Outside gas stations long lines of cars wrapped around the block as residents waited for fuel for their vehicles and generators ahead of expected power outages. Tonight, Ian is nearing the western tip of Cuba as a strong category 2 storm with one hundred mile per hour winds. It’s expected to grow in intensity to a category 4 storm with top winds of 140 miles per hour as it moves into the open waters of in the Gulf of Mexico. Governor R.D has declared a state of emergency for the entire state and the city of Tampa is bracing for its first major hurricane than more a century.

Even it doesn’t make a landfall here in Clearwater, meteorologists are expecting a powerful storm surge. Florida officials are sounding the alarms, ordering evacuations for nearly half million residents in low lying areas of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Today, hurricane Ian lashed the Cayman Islands with eighty-five miles per hour winds. It’s expected to intensified rapidly over warm waters as it approaches the Florida coast, bringing a storm surge up to ten feet. Governor R.D has already declared a state of emergency. In Clearwater, residents are stocking up on plywood and water. At one of several sandbag sites, it was bring your own shovel. Farther north, a weakened Fiona still packed a punch as extreme storm surge tore apart homes on Canada’s East Coast on Saturday. Back in Florida, residents are already finding some essentials hard to find.