“Winds are 155 miles an hour, Category Four storm… It’s 24 hours of rainfall, 24 hours of winds,” Graham said during a press briefing. “Life-threatening, devastating storm surge forecast, this is brand new information over the last hour or so… Englewood to Bonita Beach, 12- to 18-foot storm surge. That’s above ground.”
Hurricane Ian is slowing down as it approaches Florida, compounding storm surge issues and prolonging rainfall across the state, Graham added.
Representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Red Cross also attended the briefing, where they outlined efforts to pre-stage humanitarian aid for rapid deployment to impacted areas.
Officials urged residents in the forecasted path of the hurricane to follow local evacuation orders and maintain a plan of action.