It’s Thursday, September 29th – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - An extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida Wednesday, bringing "catastrophic" storm surge, winds and flooding as one of the strongest recorded storms to ever hit the state.
With maximum sustained winds at 150 mph, just 7 mph short of a Category 5 hurricane, Ian made landfall around 3:05 p.m. in Cayo Costa, near a portion of the state's heavily populated Gulf Coast near Fort Myers, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Hundreds of thousands of Floridians had been given mandatory evacuation orders in anticipation of powerful storm surge, high winds and flooding rains from Ian. More than 1.1 million power outages were reported throughout the state, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. Forecasters had said the area where Ian made landfall could be inundated by a storm surge of up to 18 feet.
No. 2 - Hurricane Ian swamped city streets with water and smashing trees along the coast of southwest Florida.
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In one area of Naples, vehicles were nearly completely submerged in storm surge from Ian. Mark Pritchett stepped outside his home in Venice around the time the hurricane came ashore about 35 miles to the south. He called it "terrifying." "I literally couldn’t stand against the wind," Pritchett wrote in a text message shortly after landfall. "Rain shooting like needles. My street is a river. Limbs and trees down. And the worst is yet to come." About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before the storm hit. Though expected to weaken as it marched inland at about 9 mph, Ian's hurricane force winds were likely to be felt well into central Florida.
No. 3 - As Hurricane Ian approached the Gulf Coast of Florida, the outer bands of the storm unleashed tornados, rainfall and strong winds in South Florida, and residents are now dealing with the damage and flooding.
On Tuesday night, a tornado flipped over 30 small planes and hangars at North Perry Airport. No injuries were reported, and officials shut down the airport to fully assess the damage. At least two people were hospitalized Tuesday night after a tornado barrelled through Delray Beach, but there were no serious injuries, officials said. Over 30 people were evacuated from the Kings Point apartment complex after the tornado tore the roof off of the building, fire officials said. There were overturned cars, large tree branches and trunks scattered about and portions of the building were gutted. In Hialeah, residents at Holiday Acres Mobile Home Park woke up to flooded streets Wednesday morning. Hialeah Mayor Steve Bovo said mobile home park streets are private roads and are not under the city’s jurisdiction, creating a complicated scenario for residents.
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No. 4 - Hurricane Ian left residents without electricity, submerging streets and sweeping homes off their foundations.
More than 500 trained Red Cross disaster workers are on the ground in Florida to help victims shelter from Hurricane Ian. The organization sent several hundred blood products to the state ahead of the storm to make sure patients continue to have access to a blood supply. Volunteer Florida is the state’s lead agency for organizing volunteers. It manages the Florida Disaster Fund, a private fund established to help communities recovering from disasters. For more on how you can help, click on this link.
No. 5 - One man was killed and another was being questioned after an argument escalated into a shootout inside a Walmart in southwest Miami-Dade Wednesday, officials said.
The shooting happened inside the store at 21151 South Dixie Highway in Goulds, where footage showed more than a dozen Miami-Dade Police cruisers outside. Miami-Dade Police officials said the incident began when two men got into an argument in the store. The fight escalated until there was an exchange of gunfire. One of the men was wounded in the shooting and was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries. The other man was detained at the scene, police said.
No. 6 - The Miami Dolphins will be back in action when they are on the road to face the Cincinnati Bengals.
At 3-0, Miami is the last unbeaten team in the AFC after a comeback win last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. The Dolphins are looking for the first 4-0 start to a season since 1995, when they went to the postseason. The Bengals come into the game 1-2 and are the defending AFC champions. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.
