Hurricane Ian saw its wind speeds plunge Wednesday night after hitting Florida’s southwest coast as a historic Category 4 storm and then — in a span of eight hours — downgrading to a Category 1.
While Ian saw rapid weakening, it is still a large hurricane battering the state with winds, storm surge and flooding as it treks up toward Central Florida. Forecasters are still cautioning residents to adhere to hurricane and tropical storm warnings.
As the storm’s intensity slowed down, certain watches and warnings have been discontinued: the hurricane watch for Lake Okeechobee; the tropical storm storm warning south of Boca Raton; the storm surge watch from Flamingo eastward to the Card Sound Bridge, including Florida Bay.
