Hurricane Ian is hitting the west coast of Florida as I write this. The storm intensified overnight and as of this morning it is just barely shy of being a category 5 storm.

#Ian is now at 155 mph, 1 mph shy of a cat 5. Only 4 US storms have made landfall that strong. It may be taking a similar track to Charley, but it’s no Charley. Ian’s eye is 40mi wide, hurricane winds are 75mi wide. Dwarfs Charley’s 5 mi eye & 30mi hurr winds. ⁦@WFLA⁩ 1/ pic.twitter.com/iTuZfB8bwj

— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) September 28, 2022

Gov. DeSantis has been giving briefings on the storm every few hours. This morning he said, “the strengthening of this over last night has been really, really significant.” He continued, “It potentially could make landfall as a category five but clearly this is a very powerful, major hurricane.” “This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days…so this is going to be a rough stretch.”

Even as a strong category 4 storm, Ian was on track to be the fifth most powerful hurricane to his the US in 100 years.

Its winds increased from 120 mph to 155 mph in just eight hours in a jaw-dropping example of rapid intensification. Those 155-mph peak winds only trail four other hurricanes that have crossed the U.S. coastline in historical records:

• The Labor Day hurricane of 1935, which struck the Florida Keys with 185 mph wind.
• Camille, which struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast with 175 mph winds in 1969.
• Andrew, which struck the southeast coast of Florida with 165 mph winds in 1992.
• Michael, which struck the Florida Panhandle with 160 mph winds in 2018.

Already there have been tornado warnings and possible tornado damage reported.

🌪️SOUTHWEST FLORIDA TORNADO🌪️

Hurricane Ian producing tornadoes in #SWFL this afternoon. This was shot along US 41 between Naples and Miami…

📹: @winknews viewer Roger Felipe pic.twitter.com/c4xia4KCBE

— Greg Rule (@WXRules) September 27, 2022

#BREAKING: Tornado touched down in Broward County, Florida, as a result of #HurricaneIan. #WiltonManors pic.twitter.com/WhDYoiLdNL

— Joshua Jered (@Joshuajered) September 28, 2022

A tornado also apparently hit a small airport.

Breaking: Photos coming in from North Perry Airport in Hollywood, where a possible Tornado touched down. @NWSMiami pic.twitter.com/rhfbfPWWMw

— Total Traffic Miami (@TotalTrafficMIA) September 28, 2022

But the most serious threat will come from the high winds and the storm surge which could be up to 18 feet.

The surge predictions from the National Hurricane Center soared overnight to 12 to 18 feet for Englewood to Bonita Bay, a forecast so high a new color was added to the National Hurricane Center’s peak storm surge prediction map.

That image above comes from the National Hurricane Center which produces a storm surge risk map. That particular map shows the areas of Fort Myers in the case of a category 4 impact. The color red represents a storm surge of greater than 9 feet.

I’m working #Ian today, so no time for social media soon but I just wanted to emphasize the potentially catastrophic storm surge coming for SW #Florida. No one alive has seen 12 feet of storm surge in that area, and many areas could take years to recover. Please be safe! https://t.co/1ogfcXXQzH

— Eric Blake 🌀 (@EricBlake12) September 28, 2022

The winds have pulled the water out of Tampa Bay:

Hurricane Ian has pulled water OUT of Tampa Bay due to strong offshore winds. This lends itself to be a false sense of security, because all the water will come racing back in when winds switch onshore. Tampa Bay is expected to get 4-6' of storm surge.

Video: Matt Tilman pic.twitter.com/N1G1Jb9UH7

— ABC 6 News – KAAL TV (@ABC6NEWS) September 28, 2022

Meanwhile, this video from Marco Island shows how quickly the surge can flood an area.

🚨Video shows the start of storm surge from #HurricaneIan in real time (this is NOT time-lapsed) on Marco Island, as the dangerous outer eye wall of the near-Cat 5 storm reaches #Florida.

Water kills.#Ian #IanHurricane

pic.twitter.com/zS3dKxXTzO

— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) September 28, 2022

This guy has been covering the storm by livestream from Pine Island which is about where Ian’s eye wall is making landfall. This morning it was windy.

Live update from Pine Island, FL with Hurricane Ian nearing category 5 intensity
LIVE stream: https://t.co/iJQD87svYR pic.twitter.com/901po7dy7m

— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 28, 2022

Early storm surge Pine Island FL @accuweather Hurricane Ian pic.twitter.com/rW0IsEnmLy

— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 28, 2022

He is enjoying this a bit too much.

Powerful storm surge southern tip Pine Island FL eye wall Hurricane Ian @accuweather @ChrisFLTornado pic.twitter.com/Osn1u5kpa4

— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 28, 2022

In this clip the water is about even with the sea wall.

MAJOR storm surge Pine Island, Florida Dominator Fore Hurricane Ian eye wall pic.twitter.com/WUQHLtaQvi

— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 28, 2022

And in his latest one you can barely see the wall.

Max storm surge eye wall Hurricane Ian Pine Island FL pic.twitter.com/6Mf9Ezvv3M

— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 28, 2022

Fort Myers Beach is already flooded.

Currently in Fort Myers, Florida. Video by Loni Architects #flwx #Ian #hurricane pic.twitter.com/8nfncFlG9G

— Kaitlin Wright (@wxkaitlin) September 28, 2022

The first of many rescues.

My boyfriend saving a cat from flood waters near Bonita Beach. #HurricaneIan #Naples #Bonita #FortMyers pic.twitter.com/BlBC9P1rdy

— Megan Cruz Scavo (@MeganScavo) September 28, 2022

Gov. DeSantis has given another briefing. He is predicting there will be millions of people without power as the storm moves through. “There’s some storms that really leave an indelible impact…this is going to be one of those historic storms,” he said.

I’ll try to update this over the next few hours.

Update: This is that same area of Fort Myers Beach, which now has about six feet of water.

*RARE* first person view of storm surge. This camera is 6 feet off the ground on Estero Blvd in Fort Myers Beach, FL. Not sure how much longer it keeps working. You’ll see it live only on ⁦@weatherchannel⁩ #Ian pic.twitter.com/WwHtvgVxjY

— Mike Bettes (@mikebettes) September 28, 2022

Here’s another angle that matches the one I posted above.

Just minutes ago we posted a video from the same vantage point, apparently on Estero Blvd. in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. The flood water had just started to flood cars and homes. Well, now houses have been taken off their foundation and are floating away! https://t.co/DRj4B9aaJw pic.twitter.com/IQwLUdtPB7

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) September 28, 2022

Not sure if these clips are from Fort Myers Beach or Fort Myers proper. But the person filming has had enough. (2nd clip)

🇺🇲🌪 Huracán Ian, Fort Myers pic.twitter.com/H1crg972qF

— ⚜ Gery 🇪🇸 (@Geryco81) September 28, 2022

One more clip from the Weather channel. This is what it’s like in the eye wall.

We're officially in the thick of things.

Our coverage of #Ian continues on The Weather Channel. @mikeseidel gives an update from Fort Myers, Florida: pic.twitter.com/8PKjGLBKZz

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) September 28, 2022