customers in florida. and the other major concern at this hour, the tornado watches in effect into the night. airport closures, the ripple effect now, and this hurricane now headed inland. headed straight for orlando before then tracking north. alerts at this hour up across florida, georgia, and now the carolinas. our meteorologists ginger zee and rob marciano both on the ground again tonight with our team across florida. also, the acting deputy director of noaa s national hurricane center right here with us tonight. what concerns him most as we head into the evening hours. the other major news this wednesday night, the u.s. state department now urging americans to leave russia immediately. the american embassy warning russians may force americans with dual citizenship into military service. and the allegations involving potential russian sabotage of the pipeline that would deliver russian natural gas into europe. ian pannell inside ukraine tonight. in this country, the m
airport closures, the ripple effect now, and this hurricane now headed inland. headed straight for orlando before then tracking north. alerts at this hour up across florida, georgia, and now the carolinas. our meteorologists ginger zee and rob marciano on the ground tonight with our team across florida. also, the acting deputy director of noaa s national hurricane center right here with us tonight. what concerns him most as we head into the evening hours. the other major news this wednesday night, the u.s. state department now urging americans to leave russia immediately. the american embassy warning russians may force americans with dual citizenship into military service. and the allegations involving russian sabotage into the pipeline that would deliver russian natural gas into europe. ian pannell inside ukraine tonight. in this country, the major news tonight on alzheimer s. a potential breakthrough. a promising new drug and what it s shown so far. also tonight, poli
reporter: accuweather capturing the eyewall piling water onto pine island as the storm moved on shore. naples fire station taking on water. the storm undergoing rapid intensification ahead of landfall, increasing the hurricane force wind field out 45 miles from the center. hurricane hunters flying into ian knocked around by extreme turbulence. there goes the bed. holy cow! whoa! reporter: one hurricane hunter describing it as the roughest flight of his career, that he d never experienced that much lateral turbulence, or seen that much lightning. one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in florida now expected to cut across the state like a slow-moving buzz saw. this is where we re expected to be by 8:00 tonight. it s 3:00 right now, and look, the hurricane moves barely 50 miles. this is an exceptionally slow moving storm. reporter: orange county fire trucks using loudspeakers to