Hurricane Ian: Mandatory Evacuations Start as Storm Starts to Move In

Parts of Florida began enacting mandatory evacuations on Monday in preparation for Hurricane Ian, including the city of Tampa. The state's Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference on Monday morning, announcing the plan to facilitate evacuations. At the time of this writing, Hurricane Ian is forecast to hit Florida starting on Tuesday, with the brunt of the impact coming on Wednesday.

Several Bay area counties have announced mandatory evactuations already in preparation for the hurricane's impact. That includes Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. According to a report by CNN, many of these communities are not used to feeling the impact of a hurricane directly because they are on the gulf side of the penninsula. That may mean their infrastructure is not designed in the same way as communities directly on the coastline.

#Ian is expected to be a major hurricane in the eastern Gulf of
Mexico during the middle of this week. Regardless of Ian’s exact track, there is a risk of a life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, & heavy rainfall along the west coast/Panhandle of Florida by mid-week pic.twitter.com/koVmW9yrtJ

— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 26, 2022

DeSantis announced on Monday morning that highway tolls in Florida would be suspended temporarily to facilitate the evacuations. The process was to begin immediately, andy county officials were in charge in explaining the exact details for each community. Local NBC affiliate News Channel 8 reported on a press conference with Hillsborough County Administrator Bonnie Wise, who urged residents to take this threat seriously.

"We did not make this decision easily, but the storm poses a serious threat, and we must do everything we can to protect our residents," said Wise. She also noted that there are some public shelters available for those that can't evacuate in time, but she asked residents to treat these only as a last resort.

Meanwhile, Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes did not mince words. He said: "We're expecting sustained tropical or hurricane winds to our barrier islands and coastal communities for as long as 48 hours, with the earliest arrival predicted for 8 p.m. Tuesday. This is a worst-case scenario with a very strong slow-moving storm just to the west of us."

Hurricane Ian reached wind speeds of 85 miles per hour on Monday afternoon, and forecasters expect it to strengthen to 111 miles per hour or more before it makes landfall. Residents who are able to leave are urged to do so immediately, even if they are not in a mandatory evacuation zone.