September 28, 2022 Hurricane Ian updates

The aerospace engineer who flew through Hurricane Ian on Wednesday morning said it was the "roughest flight" he's been on — and that's after flying 76 times through 22 storms.

Underwood works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study these major weather events, up close and personal. The crew flies into a hurricane and out the other side.

He told CNN that Ian was strengthening to a Category 4 just as the crew was flying through the storm.

"There was a ton of turbulence, both up and down," he said. "The lateral turbulence, which is honestly the most unsettling part of it — it was something else."

Though every storm is different, the turbulence and the amount of lightning were what set apart Hurricane Ian.

"We were flying through at night, but once we got into the eye, I was taking photos like it was daytime because there was just so much lightning outside," Underwood said. "It's really just those simple factors that really contribute to these storms growing in size. That ocean temperature, the low wind sheer, those kinds of things."

Watch the video from inside the aircraft:

The storm surge from Hurricane Ian has reached up to 12 feet in some areas, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news conference on Wednesday. 

DeSantis said there could be hurricane-force winds in central Florida before the storm exits the state. 

“I think at landfall it’s going to be behind only the Labor Day Hurricane, Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Michael in terms of intensity,” he added. 

DeSantis said that Hurricane Ian, at minimum, will be a very strong Category 4 hurricane that ranks as one of the top five to hit the Florida peninsula.

An extreme wind warning is in effect for these Central Florida cities — Sebring, Avon Park and Arcadia — until 9:30 p.m. ET as Ian approaches. 

Hurricane Ian has weakened to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, according to the 7 p.m. ET update from the National Hurricane Center. 

The storm is expected to weaken further as it continues to push further inland in Florida. Still, dangerous winds gusts of more than 100 mph have recently been reported.

Key West International Airport is set to reopen Thursday at 7 a.m. ET, according to its website.

Airport crews will work throughout the night to prepare the airport to reopen, Richard Strickland, director of airports, said in a Facebook post.

The airport closed to all inbound and outbound traffic on Tuesday due to Hurricane Ian.

The state of Florida has surpassed 1.5 million customers without power, according to PowerOutage.us. 

Seven counties are reporting more than 50% of tracked customers as without power.

In addition, 10 more counties are reporting more than 10,000 customers without power.

You can track outages here.

High wind gusts and storm surges are being reported as Hurricane Ian moves across Florida. Here are some of the highest winds reported in southwest Florida, according to the National Weather Service:

The National Weather Service in Tampa notes that some of the automatic reporting stations are broken or are not reporting due to communications failure.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor is urging residents to shelter in place as the worst of Hurricane Ian is yet to come to the metropolitan area. 

Castor said there have a number of trees down in the community and roughly 5,000 residents without electricity. First responders, including some ambulance services, have also pulled their crews due to weather. 

“We are expecting that we’re going to get the majority of the rain and the higher winds starting about 8 p.m. and they’re going to last throughout the night,” she said. “We are still expecting widespread flooding throughout our city, and anywhere from tropical storm wind speeds to the possibly of category one hurricane wind speeds.” 

Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Barbara Tripp echoed that message and said residents should be off the roads as the storm is expected to intensify. 

Castor added that officials expect flooding sometime in the next 24 hours. 

“We’re going to see the continued rain, the rain will increase dramatically and then that water is going to come back into the Bay as Hurricane Ian continues its northeasterly trajectory," she said.

Lee County, Florida, which includes the cities of Fort Myers and Cape Coral, put a curfew and boil notice into place following Hurricane Ian.

The curfew went into effect at 6 p.m. ET Wednesday and will stay in place "until further notice," the county said in a statement.

“This includes unincorporated Lee County and all cities with the exception of Estero at this time. It is critical to shelter in place,” the statement said. 

 Lee County Utilities has also issued a system-wide Boil Water Notice for all customers effective immediately.

“All water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth or washing dishes must be boiled at a rolling boil for one minute. Or, as an alternative, bottled water may be used,” officials said in a statement Wednesday.