Some parking garages in Collier County are flooded with water going over vehicle roofs, official says
Collier County, Florida, Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said they are dealing with some parking garages that have water going over the vehicles' roofs.
“We are not over with the storm at this point,” the sheriff said, noting that the winds may have died down from earlier, “but we still have an afternoon of storm surge.”
“And from all indications, this will be a storm surge that we've never had to deal with before,” he said.
“This is an extremely dangerous situation and you must pay attention,” the Facebook post said.
Collier County Sheriff said they have received information that “multiple parking garages on the coast are flooded with water OVER vehicle roofs.”
“We are assisting Marco Island with severe flooding issues as well as Isle of Capri,” the post said. “We cannot respond to your individual requests to check flooding on roadways. This is an evolving emergency and we are still experiencing significant impacts.”
Collier County is located south of Fort Myers on Florida's southwest coast.
Man riding out hurricane in Fort Myers says he's seeing "incredibly high" waves in Gulf of Mexico
Frank Loni, an architect from California who is working in Fort Myers, Florida, said he's "never seen something of this nature before" as Hurricane Ian hammers the area.
He's seeing cars and boats float down the street and "trees nearly bent in half," as well as some people seeking shelter, he told CNN's Ana Cabrera.
The storm surge is about 5 feet high right now, he estimated. The National Hurricane Center said storm surge could reach 18 feet in the area.
He is on the seventh floor of a steel reinforced concrete building and plans to ride out the storm with family members and friends. They have supplies and food to last for a few days.
Loni said he's been visiting this area since his childhood, and he's never seen waves as high as the ones in the Gulf of Mexico.
"The waves we are seeing on the Gulf side of the island are incredibly high and something I've never seen before," he said
"We were actually here for the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. We had evacuated during that storm. And what we're seeing here right now appears to be much worse damage than what Charley did to this island," he said.
Jacksonville readies for impacts from Hurricane Ian
The city of Jacksonville, Florida, is readying for the impacts of Hurricane Ian and is urging residents in certain flood zones to consider evacuating.
Coastal Duval County is under a Hurricane Watch and the city warns that hurricane-force winds are possible within the next 48 hours.
In an update on the Jacksonville Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security websiteon Wednesday it said “It is recommended that those who live in Zones A or B and experienced flooding during previous storms consider evacuating.”
Several schools and universities have closed for the duration of the week, as well as city offices and library branches, the statement says.
On Tuesday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry issued a State of Emergency for the city which went into effect on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET.
The city said right now, bridges remain open, but state jurisdictions will work closely “with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol to monitor wind conditions at area bridges. If winds exceed specified levels, FDOT will work with law enforcement to close affected bridges.”
Jacksonville is in the northeast corner of Florida.
