https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/09/27/hurricane-ian-slams-western-cuba-as-a-category-3-storm-threatening-a-path-of-destruction-as-it-moves-toward-florida/

Hurricane Ian was slamming western Cuba with high winds and heavy rain Tuesday morning on its way to western Florida, where officials are pleading with people to flee the coast ahead of what could be devastating storm surge in the Tampa region and flooding rains.

Ian, a Category 3 storm packing sustained winds of 125 mph, was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico mid-morning Tuesday after crossing Cuba’s tobacco-rich Pinar del Rio province, where it made landfall around 4:30 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said. Life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and mudslides are possible there, forecasters said.