Ian moves across Central Florida as tropical storm, leaves 2.5 million without power

After battering southwest Florida yesterday afternoon, and leaving millions throughout the state without power, Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday morning as it continues to slog northward.

According to the 5 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, Ian is currently moving to the northeast at about 8 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, and is currently about 40 miles east of Orlando.

Forecasters expert Ian to move off the east coast of Florida later today, and then head north towards South Carolina over the next 36 hours, where it will likely dissipate.

In the meantime, Northeast Florida is expected to receive roughly 10 inches of rain today, says the NHC.

"Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding, with major to record river flooding, will continue today across portions of central Florida with considerable flooding in northern Florida, southeastern Georgia and eastern South Carolina expected today through the end of the week," says the NHC.

Currently, nearly 2.5 million are without power, and half a million of those people are in the Tampa Bay region. As of now, one death was reported, and it involved a Deltona man going outside during the storm to drain his pool.

This morning, President Joe Biden declared that a major disaster exists in Florida and ordered "Federal aid to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Ian beginning on September 23, 2022. The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota."