Cuba Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian made landfall early Tuesday morning in Cuba's tobacco-rich Pinar del Rio province, in the coastal village of Coloma — with winds of up to 125 ...

report authorities have reported that more desperate Cubans than usual have been risking their lives at sea to get to South Florida. The wind also tore roofs, destroyed wooden homes, and uprooted trees. Government-owned media reported the residents of Pinar del Rio were without power. She said her heart broke when she talked to her 99-year-old father, Jesus Pino Aleman, who was among the Cubans whose homes were flooded and damaged.

State of play: The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said "significant wind and storm surge impacts" occurred Tuesday morning in the west coast of the island. Ian ...

The storm's outer rain band began on Monday night lashing [coastal areas](https://twitter.com/NWSMiami/status/1574576479681257487) of Florida, where it could hit as a Category 4 hurricane as early as Wednesday. There's a "danger of life-threatening storm surge" along much of the Florida west coast," the [NHC said](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT4+shtml/262102.shtml). [flooding](https://twitter.com/PerfectHealth_1/status/1574959181869760512) across the lower Florida Keys as the Category 3 hurricane moved 105 miles southwest of Naples, Florida, packing maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. [tweet](https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1574678606126583809). [major hurricane](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/27/live-hurricane-ian-southwest-florida) just before making landfall over western Cuba on Tuesday morning, according to the [National Hurricane Center](https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1574648913734160384/photo/1). [Strengthening Hurricane Ian closes in on Cuba and Florida](/2022/09/25/hurricane-ian-intensifies-florida-threat) [tweeted](https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1574806286067179520). the [NHC said](https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1574987422068199424/photo/1) in an update at 1am ET. [Hurricane Ian](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/25/hurricane-ian-intensifies-florida-threat) was expected to further ramp-up to a major Category 4 storm ahead of its expected landfall in Florida with "catastrophic" winds and storm surge on Wednesday, per the National Hurricane Center. [Hurricane Ian approaches Category 4 intensity as it heads toward Florida](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/27/live-hurricane-ian-southwest-florida) [Hurricane Ian](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/27/live-hurricane-ian-southwest-florida) swept through in the morning and severely flooded the Caribbean island. [AP notes](https://apnews.com/article/hurricanes-cuba-caribbean-hurricane-ian-080599db41b3e492d41e55046cb13c23?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_01).

Ian hit a Cuba that has been struggling with an economic crisis and has faced frequent power outages in recent months.

The masonry and zinc roof of the house had just been installed. A hospital in Pinar del Río was damaged. Authorities were still assessing the damage in its world-famous tobacco belt. It made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the island’s western end, devastating Pinar del Río province, where much of the tobacco used for Cuba’s iconic cigars is grown. Power was initially knocked out to about 1 million people in Cuba’s western provinces, but later the entire grid collapsed. Authorities were still assessing the damage, although no fatalities had been reported by Tuesday night.

Cuba had slowly begun to restore power across the eastern end of the island, the state electricity provider said early on Wednesday, after Hurricane Ian ...

The massive storm was expected to crash ashore into Florida on Wednesday evening south of Tampa Bay, somewhere between Sarasota and Naples. Cuba's grid is divided into three main regions, west, central and east, which are served by large, centralized oil-fired plants. "Once generation is achieved in the three regions, they will all be able to be linked to the National Electric System, which will allow the largest amount of built-in load to be restored and all the service that has not been affected by Hurricane Ian will be restored," the generator said.

Crews were working through the night to restore power. “It's a process that is going to take a while,” the head of the Electrical Union told state ...

The economy has been hobbled in part by the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic and in part by new U.S. “Aid is already pouring in from all over the country.” sanctions imposed by the Trump administration and partially maintained by the Biden administration. “The damages are great, although they have not yet been accounted,” he tweeted. Failures appeared in the western, central and eastern links. A man in a different municipality died when a roof collapsed.