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Hurricane Ian: Buildings ripped apart and streets turned into rivers by 150mph storm

Buildings have been ripped apart and roads have turned into rivers as one of the most powerful storms in years has hit Florida.

Catastrophic gales of 150 mph, torrential rain and a treacherous sea surge have all battered the region.

Hurricane Ian ploughed into Florida's Gulf Coast hit land at 3.05pm local time close to Fort Myers as a Category 4, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

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 157 mph.

"Life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida Peninsula," warned the NHC, as millions are under evacuation orders.

There have been more than 1.5 million power outages in the state and curfews have been put introduced.

Planes at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Florida, were flipped over (

Image:

TotalTrafficMIA/Twitter)

Governor Ron DeSantis said Ian had generated life-threatening storm surges - waves of wind-driven seawater flooding along the coast - of up to 12 feet in some places.

"This is a storm that we will talk about for many years to come, an historic event," said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service.

Three swimmers were seen taking the waves at For Myers by the pier (

Image:

Pierside Grill/Twitter)

An hour after landfall, video posted on social media and local TV stations showed water fuelled by a storm surge rushing through several communities, nearly reaching rooftops.

The town of Fort Myers Beach was almost submerged by floodwaters, and the ruins of homes could be seen floating downstream, along with cars.

Water levels from the storm reached the roof tops of some houses (

Image:

itsbethbooker/Twitter)

Amazingly, three swimmers were filmed going into the sea to take the waves by Fort Myers pier, with strong warnings from authorities of the dangers of going out in the hurricane.

A view of Sanibel Island posted on Twitter showed the ocean rushing over a seawall and gushing into a resort hotel's swimming pool. Other footage from the island was of roads inundated by the storm surge, rising to the tops of street signs, with palm trees bent sideways amid a torrent of near blinding rain and wind as waves crashed up a beach onto a road.

There have been more than 1.5 million power outages in the state

A social image photo showing a resident swimming in side their home

In terms of its sustained wind speeds, which peaked at 155 mph before landfall, Ian ranks as one of the most ferocious hurricanes to strike the US mainland in recent years.

The Weather Channel reported that Ian made landfall in the exact same point on Cayo Costa where Hurricane Charley came ashore in 2004 as a Category 4 storm. Both hurricanes packed winds of 150 mph at landfall.

Houses have been completely destroyed by the water (

Image:

loniarchitects/Instagram)
Debris from buildings is being pushed along with the water current (

Image:

loniaarchitects/Twitter)

Even as Ian lashed Florida's Gulf Coast with fierce winds and drenching rains in the final hours before it swept ashore, authorities warned residents it was too late for anyone who had yet to evacuate to safely do so.

Earlier this week, authorities told more than 2.5 million residents to evacuate. Doug Coe of Venice was one of those residents who chose to ignore warnings and stay put. As he walked through rainfall on Wednesday morning, Coe admitted to never experiencing a storm of such magnitude.

Hurricane Ian ploughed into Florida's Gulf Coast hit land at 3.05pm local time

"You have to be vigilant because you never know what's going to happen with it,'' he said. "I'm staying vigilant, but trying not to worry.''

The region is dotted with mobile home parks, which most residents had abandoned, taking refuge in local schools and other facilities converted to emergency shelters. The area's numerous assisted-living facilities were mostly evacuated, too.

There have been curfews put in place across Florida due to the hurricane (

Image:

BenAmesWx/Twitter)

Heartis Venice, an assisted-living home north of Venice, was an exception. Of its 107 residents, 98 decided to stay put with staff and some family members, general manager Michelle Barger said.

The facility, opened two years ago, had stocked up in advance with food, water, medication and other provisions and was built to withstand a Category 5 storm, Barger said.

"Our community is locked down. We're secure and we're prepared for this," she said.

A car parked in a flooded parking lot at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida, on Wednesday (

Image:

Zuma Press/PA Images)

Climate change is making hurricanes wetter, windier and more intense. There is also evidence that it is causing storms to travel more slowly, meaning they can dump more rain in one place, scientists say.

"Hurricane Ian's rapid intensification could prove to be another example of how a warming planet is changing hurricanes," said Kait Parker, meteorologist and climate scientist at IBM's weather.com. "Research shows we are seeing this far more often than we did in decades past."

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