tropical storm force winds. the greatest concern right now is in the gulf coast where a combination of heavy rainfall, massive storm surge and rivers already at flood stage could send up to 12 feet of water into low-lying areas. the january 6th smcommittee canceled tomorrow s hearing because of the storm. jennifer gray is in the weather center. i want to start with a new bulletin. so what have we learned now? we have 120-mile-per-hour winds with gusts of 150. it s still moving to the north-northeast at about 10 miles per hour. basically it s paralleling key west right now. the lower keys have received tropical storm force winds, and conditions are only going to deteriorate across the southern peninsula of florida throughout the overnight tonight. tropical storm force winds will be arriving across south florida within the next couple of hours and throughout the day tomorrow and the early afternoon. or early to mid afternoon. we should be seeing a landfall. so 8:00 tonight, b
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
155 miles an hour. that is just shy of a category 5 hurricane. the eye of this storm expected to make landfall just hours from now, bringing with it catastrophic flooding and also life-threatening storm surge. the florida keys getting hit hard overnight with tropical storm-force winds causing flooding, major flooding and power outages. the power of this is just enormous. the hurricane has also sparked tornado activity, one reported overnight in broward county, ripping trees from the ground. it has also caused heavy damage to planes at the north perry airport in pembroke pines, flipping aircraft like toys. for the north more than 2.5 million people are facing some form of evacuation order this morning but florida governor ron desantis says that now residents in the cross hairs of the approaching storm need to shelter in place immediately, that in effect it s too late to evacuate. if you are in any of those counties, it s no longer possible to safely evacuate. it s time to
zone, particularly in the southwest florida counties, your time to evacuate is coming to an end. you need to evacuate now. a life threatening category 4 storm headed right towards florida. i m john berman live in tampa this morning. brianna keilar is in washington and that is the news from overnight. hurricane ian strength jentd to a category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. wind gusts of 165 miles per hour. the storm forecast has adjusted somewhat south of where i am in tampa headed right towards the fort myers area in florida about 100 miles south of here, but the threat to florida is enormous. more than 2 1/2 million people under some sort of evacuation order. yes, the wind speed is a serious threat now, a category 4 storm. storm surge where i am in tampa, they could see storm surge of 6 feet which would put the water pretty much right where i m stand going it hit the maximum levels down towards where the storm is expected to make landfall. they could
coast of florida. 155-mile-per-hour wind speeds. that s just two miles short of a category 5 hurricane. it s expected to make landfall about 100 miles south of here in the port charlotte area. rain 12 to 24 inches across much of the florida peninsula, challenge create freshwater flooding. the impact of this will be felt by millions in florida. already 200,000 people without power. that s before the storm even makes landfall. this will uproot people s lives. its a life-threatening storm. this is the sunshine skyway bridge that we have pictures of. you can see the winds kicking up. it will have an enormous impact. let s go to chad myers first at the weather center. the 11:00 a.m. advisory out now. what do you see? still see the 155-mile-per-hour eyewall winds. inside the eye it could be down to 5 or 10 in the middle, but we re working our way onshore. the eye is not onshore. the eyewall is coming onshore. this is what it looks like from space, this is called the visible image