DeSantis Warns of Hurricane Ian's Life-Threatening New Path

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned Tuesday morning of Hurricane Ian's increasing intensity and its new path during a press conference.

Overnight, Ian was upgraded to a Category 3 storm. The hurricane will exit Cuba later on Tuesday and continue its path toward Florida. Models show that the storm has shifted its track and is expected to make landfall in Sarasota on Wednesday.

Monday's models showed Hurricane Ian hitting the Tampa area hard, then slowing its path, leading to extended rain, winds and storm surge. Ian was expected to move up Florida's west coast, but new models show the storm cutting east across the state and exiting into the Atlantic Ocean. DeSantis warned Tampa area residents that they weren't out of the woods from the impact.

"This is imminent," DeSantis said. "Understand the impacts are going to be far, far broader than just where the eye of the storm happens to make landfall."

DeSantis said inland communities may also see hurricane-related events, like power outages, flooding and wind damage to trees.

"Forty-eight hours ago, most solutions had [the hurricane] going up [the] coast, and now most have it ramming into the state of Florida and cutting across," DeSantis said. "Be prepared for that and understand that can be something that will be happening."

'Really historic' storm

DeSantis reminded Floridians of Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 hurricane that impacted the state in 2004. Although Charley's intensity was stronger, DeSantis said Ian might cause more catastrophic damage.

"Most damage from Charley was from wind and wind destruction," DeSantis said. "What we have here is really historic storm surge and flooding potential. The storm surge you are going to see generated from this is going to far eclipse what we saw there."

Hurricane Ian's fatal impact

Evacuation orders are in place for several of Florida's coastal counties, and 2.5 million Floridians have fled their homes. Many school districts have closed to offer shelter to evacuees.

Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie urged residents to follow the evacuation orders. He said he could "100 percent guarantee" that a Florida resident wouldn't die from storm surge or need to be rescued from a rooftop if they "heed the evacuation orders."

DeSantis also urged evacuees to bring their pets with them if they evacuate. He couldn't give a definitive answer when asked how fatal he expected Ian to be.

"The danger to life and limb is really from that surge and that flooding more so than the wind," he said. "It's hard to say how deadly. The purpose of evacuation is to protect lives. The more people that heed that, the less likely you are to see fatalities when you have flooding or storm surge in those areas."

DeSantis said that people often are killed from a hurricane after the storm, rather than directly when it hits. He said causes of death after a hurricane can be from misused generators, driving through flooded streets and electrocution from venturing into standing water.