It’s not just storm surge: Ian’s ‘slow crawl’ across FL could bring catastrophic rain

The National Hurricane Center is warning of Hurricane Ian’s threats of severe and heavy rainfall and flooding to most of Florida ahead of the storm’s expected landfall on Wednesday.

After reaching the coast, Ian is expected to move at a sluggish pace across the peninsula, where it will dump extreme amounts of water — up to 24 inches in some areas.

That creates a scenario for a host of other dangers, hurricane experts say.

“If you saturate the soil, and then put a lot of wind over it, there’s a high potential for trees to be uprooted. Roads to be blocked. Power lines will be down,” NHC acting director Jamie Rhome said on Tuesday afternoon.

As of Tuesday evening, Central and Northeast Florida are projected to see 12 to 18 inches of rainfall through Thursday night, with isolated totals of up to 24 inches. The Florida Keys and South Florida could see 6 to 8 inches, with isolated totals up to 12 inches.

“You’ve got to start thinking about where you’re going to be as this system unfolds or approaches your community. And you’re going to need to stay there possibly for a couple of days. Because it’s going to a be a slow crawl across the state.”

With nonstop rain, the risk of flash flooding is “high,” or more than 70%, for a large chunk of Central and Southwest Florida in the coming days.

Ian is currently predicted to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon and cut a northeasterly path across Florida, not reaching the east coast until early Friday morning.

Other threats from the storm include severe storm surge, projected up to 12 feet in Southwest Florida, as well as winds equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane or higher.

This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 10:35 PM.