Live Updates: Ian, now a tropical storm, causing “catastrophic” flooding in Florida

Tropical Storm Ian continued barreling across Florida Thursday morning and was causing “catastrophic” flooding over east-central areas of the state, the National Hurricane Center said, warning that Ian could “produce life-threatening flooding, storm surge and gusty winds across portions of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.”

Ian hit land in southwestern Florida as a major Category 4 hurricane, just shy of a Category 5, as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the U.S.

It left people trapped in homes and wide swaths of the state without power. Almost 2.6 million homes and businesses were in the dark shortly after 8 a.m. ET, according to poweroutage.us.

The hurricane center said Ian’s center was “expected to move off the east-central coast of Florida soon and then approach the coast of South Carolina on Friday. The center will move farther inland across the Carolinas Friday night and Saturday. … Some re-intensification is forecast, and Ian could be near hurricane strength when it approaches the coast of South Carolina on Friday. Weakening is expected Friday night and Saturday after Ian moves inland.”

The center said, “Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flash and urban flooding, with major to record flooding along rivers, will continue across central Florida. Widespread considerable flash, urban, and river flooding is expected across portions of northeast Florida, southeastern Georgia and eastern South Carolina tomorrow through the weekend.”

As of 8 a.m. ET Thursday, Ian’s center was some 40 miles east of Orlando and 10 miles west of Cape Canaveral. It was moving northeast at 8 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. Sustained winds of 74 mph are needed for a storm to reach hurricane status.

Ian weakens into a tropical storm, moves to Orlando 01:26