this storm will only continue to intensify. if you want to leave, as the governor has said, now is your last chance. we cannot send first responders into harm s way because you decided not to leave. 155 mile per hour winds. that is what hurricane ian is now producing as it bears down on florida s coast. i m john berman live in tampa this morning. brianna keilar is in washington. this is cnn s special live coverage of a storm that is getting more powerful by the minute. the national hurricane center just reported it had a plane flying through the center of this storm measuring sustained winds, sustained of 155 miles per hour. that is just 2 miles per hour short of a category 5 storm and it could still strengthen before it makes impact over the next few hours. expected to make landfall, direct landfall southwest of where i am south of where i am near the fort myers area. the wind speed just one of the major concerns here. the storm surge, which the wind speed only exacerbat
they are worried about flooding. there will be an army of volunteers staying behind as the airport expects this to come in. check in with the airport ceo as they are there waiting this out. we have a team of storm riders made up of about 120 employees that will ride out the storm. once the storm has passed, our team will conduct a damage assessment of our airfield and terminal facilities and determine whether we can reopen immediately or whether we have issues that we need to address as a result of the hurricane s impact. reporter: more airports closing. atlanta airport closing at 10:30. reporter: pete muntean at ragan national airport. i m here where it s raining