AFP UK

Photos showed masses of bubbles emanating from the leaks in Sweden and Denmark's economic zones north of Poland

Sabotage is the most likely cause of leaks in two Baltic Sea gas pipelines between Russia and Europe, European leaders said Tuesday, after seismologists reported explosions around the Nord Stream pipelines.

EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen said “sabotage” caused the leaks. She threatened the “strongest possible response” to any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions in recent months as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

Photos taken by the Danish military showed large areas of bubbles on the surface of the water, emanating from the three leaks in Sweden and Denmark’s economic zones north of Poland, from 200 to 1,000 metres (656 feet to 0.62 miles) in diameter.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described them as “deliberate acts”, saying: “We are not talking about an accident”.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the leaks were an act of sabotage that “probably marks the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine”.

And Sweden’s outgoing Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said “there have been detonations”, although foreign minister Ann Linde said they would not “speculate on motives or actors”.

The United States was looking at reports that the leaks were “the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington “is supporting efforts to investigate and we will continue our work to safeguard Europe’s energy security”.

Copenhagen expects the leaks at the pipelines, which are full of gas but not operational, to last “at least a week” — until the methane escaping from the underwater pipes runs out.

Like Denmark, the Swedish government said it does not consider this as an act of aggression against it, given that the events took place outside its territorial waters, in the exclusive economic zones.

Two “massive releases of energy” were recorded by the Swedish National Seismic Network shortly before the gas leaks near their locations off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm, Uppsala University seismologist Peter Schmidt told AFP.

“With energy releases this big there isn’t much else than a blast that could cause it,” he added. 

Russia said earlier that it was “extremely concerned” about the leaks. 

Asked by reporters whether it could be an act of sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that at the moment “it is impossible to exclude any options”.

But Ukraine said it was “nothing more than a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression towards the EU”.

– ‘Extremely rare’ –

The pipelines are operated by a consortium majority-owned by Russian gas firm Gazprom.

One of the leaks on Nord Stream 1 occurred in the Danish economic zone and the other in the Swedish economic zone, while the Nord Stream 2 leak was in the Danish economic zone.

A leak was first reported on Nord Stream 2 on Monday.

Two Danish military vessels have been dispatched to the area, while Sweden’s government called an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

Neighbouring Norway, an oil producer, on Tuesday said it had “heightened emergency preparedness” related to the Norwegian Continental Shelf. “Some of the background are reports of increased drone activity,” a government statement said.

Navigational warnings have been issued for a distance of five nautical miles and a flight height of 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) around the Baltic Sea leaks.

“Gas pipeline leaks are extremely rare and we therefore see a reason to increase the level of preparedness following the incidents we have witnessed over the past 24 hours,” Danish Energy Agency director Kristoffer Bottzauw said in a statement.

A Nord Stream spokesperson told AFP they had not been able to assess the damage but conceded that “an incident where three pipes experience difficulties at the same time on the same day is not common”.

Built in parallel to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Nord Stream 2 was intended to double the capacity for Russian gas imports to Germany.

But Berlin blocked newly completed Nord Stream 2 in the days before the war.

Germany, which has been highly dependent on imports of fossil fuels from Russia to meet its energy needs, has since come under acute stress as Moscow’s supplies dwindle.

Gazprom progressively reduced the volumes of gas being delivered via Nord Stream 1 until it shut the pipeline completely at the end of August, blaming Western sanctions for the delay of necessary repairs to the pipeline. 

Germany has rebuffed Gazprom’s technical explanation for the cut, instead accusing Moscow of wielding energy as a weapon over the war in Ukraine.

Pangolins, usually prized for their scales, brave a different danger in conservation-conscious Taiwan — a surging feral dog population

In most of its habitats, the heavily trafficked pangolin’s biggest threat comes from humans. But in Taiwan, the scaly mammals brave a different danger: a surging feral dog population.

Veterinarian Tseng Shao-tung, 28, has seen firsthand what a dog can do to the gentle creatures during his shifts at a hospital in Hsinchu.

Last month he worked to save the life of a male juvenile pangolin who had been lying in the wild for days with half of its tail chewed off. 

“It has a big open wound on its tail and its body tissue has decayed,” Tseng said as he carefully turned the sedated pangolin to disinfect the gaping injury.

It was the fifth pangolin Tseng and his fellow veterinarians had saved this year, all from suspected dog attacks.

Chief veterinarian Chen Yi-ru said she had noticed a steady increase of pangolins with trauma injuries in the last five years — most of them with severed tails.

Pangolins are covered in hard, overlapping body scales and curl up into a ball when attacked. The tail is the animal’s most vulnerable part.

“That’s why when attacked, the tail is usually the first to be bitten,” Chen explained.

Wildlife researchers and officials said dog attacks, which account for more than half of all injuries since 2018, have become “the main threat to pangolins in Taiwan” in a report released last year.

– Most trafficked mammal –

Pangolins are described by conservationists as the world’s most trafficked mammal, with traditional Chinese medicine being the main driver. 

Although their scales are made of keratin — the substance that makes up our fingernails and hair — there is huge demand for them among Chinese consumers because of the unproven belief that they help lactation in breastfeeding mothers.

That demand has decimated pangolin populations across Asia and Africa despite a global ban and funded a lucrative international black market trade.

All eight species of pangolins on both continents are listed as endangered or critically endangered.

Taiwan has been a comparative conservation success story, transforming itself from a place where pangolins went from near-extinct to protected and thriving.

Chan Fang-tse, veterinarian and researcher at the official Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute, said the 1950s to 1970s saw massive hunting. 

“Sixty thousand pangolins in Taiwan were killed for their scales and hides during that period,” he told AFP. 

A 1989 wildlife protection law ended the industry, while rising conservation awareness led the public to start embracing their scaly neighbours as something to be cherished, rather than a commodity.

The population of the Formosan or Taiwanese pangolin, a subspecies of the Chinese pangolin, has since bounced back with researchers estimating that there are now between 10,000 to 15,000 in the wild.

But the island’s growing feral dog population — itself a consequence of a 2017 government policy not to cull stray animals — is hitting pangolins hard, Chan warned. 

“Pangolins are most affected because they have a big overlap of roaming area and pangolins don’t move as fast as other animals,” Chan said.

– Picky eaters –

Pangolins are also vulnerable because of how few offspring they have.

The solitary Formosan pangolins mate once a year and only produce one offspring after 150 days of pregnancy. Captivity breeding programmes have had little success. 

“It may be more difficult to breed pangolins than pandas,” Chan said.

The rise in injured pangolins has created another challenge for animal doctors: finding enough ants and termites to feed the picky eaters who often reject substitute mixtures of larvae. 

Piling into a truck with three other vets, Tseng headed to a tree to retrieve an ant nest he had recently spotted.

“We have to be constantly on the lookout and go search for ants nests every couple of days now because we have more pangolins to feed,” Tseng said.

A pangolin can eat an ant nest the size of a football each day. 

The government has also called for residents to report nest locations to help feed the pangolins until they can be released back into the wild.

But the injured pangolin in Tseng’s care will likely have to be sent to a zoo or government facility for adoption after it recovers.

“It will have difficulty climbing up trees and won’t be able to roll itself into a ball shape,” Tseng said.

“It has lost the ability to protect itself in the wild.”

Cuban residents reported "apocalyptic" damage after Hurricane Ian pummeled the island for more than five hours, with some saying they had lost everything they owned

Powerful Hurricane Ian left a trail of destruction and caused a widespread blackout in Cuba on Tuesday, while Florida braced for a direct hit from the “extremely dangerous” storm that is already pumeling the US state with high winds.

Ian hit Cuba’s western regions for more than five hours early Tuesday morning, before moving out over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Insmet meteorological institute said.

The storm damaged Cuba’s power network and plunged the island into darkness, leaving it “without electrical service,” state electricity company Union Electrica said on Twitter.

In the western city of Pinar del Rio, AFP footage showed downed power lines, flooded streets and a scattering of damaged rooftops.

“Desolation and destruction. These are terrifying hours. Nothing is left here,” a 70-year-old resident of the city was quoted as saying in a social media post by his journalist son, Lazaro Manuel Alonso.

About 40,000 people were evacuated across Pinar del Rio province, which bore the brunt of the storm, local authorities said.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it expects Ian to gain strength before hitting the west coast of Florida as an “extremely dangerous” major hurricane.

Calls to heed evacuation warnings were echoed from local Florida officials on up to US President Joe Biden, who said Ian “could be a very severe hurricane, life threatening and devastating in its impact.”

In its latest bulletin, the NHC said to be prepared for “life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding” in the Florida peninsula.

Tropical storm-force winds are already battering the Florida Keys, the chain of islands off the southern tip of the state’s mainland, the NHC said.

– ‘Apocalyptic’ –

In Cuba, authorities are just beginning to assess the damage, but residents described “destruction” and posted images on social media of flooded streets and felled trees.

At the time of impact, the NHC reported Ian’s maximum wind speeds at 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, making it a Category 3 storm. Wind speeds have since dropped slightly to 120 miles per hour.

No deaths or injuries have yet been reported.

In Consolacion del Sur, southwest of Havana, Caridad Fernandez, 65, said her roof was seriously damaged and water came through her front door.

“Everything we have is damaged,” she said. “But we’ll get through this, we’ll just keep moving forwards.”

In San Juan y Martinez, a growing hub for Cuba’s vital cigar industry, “it was apocalyptic, a real disaster,” Hirochi Robaina, from the Robaina tobacco plantation, said on Facebook.

– ‘Life and death’ –

In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said 2.5 million people were under evacuation orders as officials scrambled to prepare for the storm’s landfall forecast for early Wednesday.

DeSantis warned that although Ian’s exact path was still uncertain “the impacts will be far far broader.”

“When you have five to ten feet (1.5 to 3 meters) of storm surge that is not something that you want to be a part of. Mother Nature is a very fearsome adversary,” DeSantis said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden spoke with DeSantis — a potential 2024 election challenger — on Tuesday evening to discuss preparations for the storm.

The NHC warned that “widespread catastrophic flash, urban, and river flooding is expected across central and west Florida beginning midweek.”

Thirty-year-old Chelsea Thompson, who was helping her parents’ board up their home in a mandatory evacuation zone southwest of Tampa, said that “the closer it gets, obviously with the unknown, your anxiety gets a little higher,” 

The Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been activated in Florida, with an additional 1,800 coming later.

Authorities in several municipalities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, were distributing free sandbags to help residents protect their homes from flooding.

And Tampa International Airport suspended operations from Tuesday at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT).

Biden has preemptively approved emergency aid in Florida through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while even NASA on the state’s east coast took precautions, rolling back its massive Moon rocket into its storage hanger for protection.

Like DeSantis, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell highlighted the danger of storm surge, saying it was the agency’s “biggest concern.”

“If people are told to evacuate by their local officials, please listen to them. The decision you choose to make may be the difference between life and death,” she said.

– Fiona’s wake –

The Caribbean and parts of eastern Canada are still counting the cost of powerful storm Fiona, which tore through last week, claiming several lives.

Half a million residents in the US territory of Puerto Rico were still without power, according to a tracking website.

Masses of bubbles were photographed on the surface of the water

Sabotage is the most likely cause of leaks in two Baltic Sea gas pipelines between Russia and Europe, European leaders said Tuesday, after seismologists reported explosions around the Nord Stream pipelines.

EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen said the leaks were due to “sabotage”, threatening the “strongest possible response” to any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure.

Photos taken by the Danish military showed large areas of bubbles on the surface of the water, emanating from the three leaks in Sweden and Denmark’s economic zones north of Poland, from 200 to 1,000 metres (656 feet to 0.62 miles) in diameter.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described them as “deliberate acts”, adding: “We are not talking about an accident”.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the leaks were an act of sabotage which “probably marks the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine”.

And Sweden’s outgoing Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said “there have been detonations” although foreign minister Ann Linde said they would not “speculate on motives or actors”.

Copenhagen expects the leaks at the pipelines, which are full of gas but not operational, to last “at least a week” — until the methane escaping from the underwater pipes runs out.

Like Denmark, the Swedish government said it does not consider this as an act of aggression against it, given that the events took place outside its territorial waters, in the exclusive economic zones.

Two “massive releases of energy” were recorded by the Swedish National Seismic Network shortly before the gas leaks near their locations off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm, Uppsala University seismologist Peter Schmidt told AFP.

“With energy releases this big there isn’t much else than a blast that could cause it,” he added. 

Russia said earlier that it was “extremely concerned” about the leaks. 

Asked by reporters whether it could be an act of sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that at the moment “it is impossible to exclude any options”.

Ukraine, however, pointed the finger directly at Moscow, saying it was “nothing more than a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression towards the EU”.

A White House official said the United States would not speculate on the cause but was ready to support European efforts to investigate.

– ‘Extremely rare’ –

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions in recent months as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

While the pipelines — operated by a consortium majority-owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom — are not currently in operation, they both still contain gas.

One of the leaks on Nord Stream 1 occurred in the Danish economic zone and the other in the Swedish economic zone, while the Nord Stream 2 leak was in the Danish economic zone.

A leak was first reported on Nord Stream 2 on Monday.

Two Danish military vessels have been dispatched to the area, while Sweden’s government called an emergency meeting to be held on Tuesday evening.

Navigational warnings have been issued for a distance of five nautical miles and a flight height of 1,000 metres (3,280 feet).

“Gas pipeline leaks are extremely rare and we therefore see a reason to increase the level of preparedness following the incidents we have witnessed over the past 24 hours,” Danish Energy Agency director Kristoffer Bottzauw said in a statement.

The European Commission said it was too early to speculate on the causes of the leaks.

A Nord Stream spokesperson told AFP they had not been able to assess the damage but conceded that “an incident where three pipes experience difficulties at the same time on the same day is not common.”

Built in parallel to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Nord Stream 2 was intended to double the capacity for Russian gas imports to Germany.

But Berlin blocked newly-completed Nord Stream 2 in the days before the war.

Germany, which has been highly dependent on imports of fossil fuels from Russia to meet its energy needs, has since come under acute stress as Moscow’s supplies dwindle.

Russian energy giant Gazprom progressively reduced the volumes of gas being delivered via Nord Stream 1 until it shut the pipeline completely at the end of August, blaming Western sanctions for the delay of necessary repairs to the pipeline. 

Germany has rebuffed Gazprom’s technical explanation for the cut, instead accusing Moscow of wielding energy as a weapon amid tensions over the war in Ukraine.

Heavy rain from Typhoon Noru falls on an empty road in Danang, in central Vietnam where the storm made landfall before dawn on September 28, 2022

Typhoon Noru barrelled into Vietnam’s central coast early Wednesday, the national forecaster said, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain as hundreds of thousands of people took refuge in shelters.

In Danang, Vietnam’s third largest city, high rise buildings shook in the strong gusts that toppled trees and tore roofs from homes across the central region. Large scale power outages were reported.

“The position of the typhoon’s centre at 4:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday) on September 28 is between Danang and Quang Nam,” the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting said, adding wind speeds were between 103 and 117 kilometers (64-72 miles) per hour.

More than 200,000 people in Vietnam had taken refuge in shelters overnight, after forecasters predicted the storm would be one of the biggest to hit the Southeast Asian nation.

Wind speeds were slower than initially feared, but forecasters said heavy rain would continue into the day and warned of landslides and serious flooding.

The defence ministry has mobilised around 40,000 soldiers and 200,000 militia members, equipped with armoured vehicles and boats in preparation for rescue and relief operations, state media said. 

Almost half of Vietnam’s airports have been shut, schools and offices across several central provinces — including in Danang — were closed and residents rushed to secure their homes Tuesday. 

The central section of highway linking Hanoi in the north with commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City in the south has also been closed.

That came after Super Typhoon Noru slammed into the Philippines earlier this week, killing six people.

Authorities said late Tuesday they had evacuated nearly 260,000 people from their homes, including in the popular tourist city of Hoi An, where residents were brought to a primary school. 

“I wanted to leave. My house is not very strong. I am afraid its roof might be blown away when the typhoon hits,” Huynh Mua told AFP, clutching a plastic bag full of clothes, a blanket and several packets of instant noodles.

Three hundred houses in the coastal province of Quang Tri had their roofs blown off late Tuesday as winds began picking up speed. In nearby Hue, trees were blown to the ground. In Danang all shops and hotels were closed, while residents were banned from going out on the streets. 

Noru hit the Philippines’ Luzon island on Sunday and Monday, toppling trees, knocking out power and flooding low-lying communities. 

Five rescuers were killed after being sent to help flooded residents, while another man died after he was hit by a landslide. Officials estimate about $2.4 million worth of crops were damaged.

Heavy rain from Typhoon Noru falls on an empty road in Danang, in central Vietnam where the storm made landfall before dawn on September 28, 2022

Typhoon Noru barrelled into Vietnam’s central coast early Wednesday, the national forecaster said, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain as hundreds of thousands of people took refuge in shelters.

In Danang, Vietnam’s third largest city, high rise buildings shook in the strong gusts that toppled trees and tore roofs from homes across the central region. Large scale power outages were reported.

“The position of the typhoon’s centre at 4:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday) on September 28 is between Danang and Quang Nam,” the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting said, adding wind speeds were between 103 and 117 kilometers (64-72 miles) per hour.

More than 200,000 people in Vietnam had taken refuge in shelters overnight, after forecasters predicted the storm would be one of the biggest to hit the Southeast Asian nation.

Wind speeds were slower than initially feared, but forecasters said heavy rain would continue into the day and warned of landslides and serious flooding.

The defence ministry has mobilised around 40,000 soldiers and 200,000 militia members, equipped with armoured vehicles and boats in preparation for rescue and relief operations, state media said. 

Almost half of Vietnam’s airports have been shut, schools and offices across several central provinces — including in Danang — were closed and residents rushed to secure their homes Tuesday. 

The central section of highway linking Hanoi in the north with commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City in the south has also been closed.

That came after Super Typhoon Noru slammed into the Philippines earlier this week, killing six people.

Authorities said late Tuesday they had evacuated nearly 260,000 people from their homes, including in the popular tourist city of Hoi An, where residents were brought to a primary school. 

“I wanted to leave. My house is not very strong. I am afraid its roof might be blown away when the typhoon hits,” Huynh Mua told AFP, clutching a plastic bag full of clothes, a blanket and several packets of instant noodles.

Three hundred houses in the coastal province of Quang Tri had their roofs blown off late Tuesday as winds began picking up speed. In nearby Hue, trees were blown to the ground. In Danang all shops and hotels were closed, while residents were banned from going out on the streets. 

Noru hit the Philippines’ Luzon island on Sunday and Monday, toppling trees, knocking out power and flooding low-lying communities. 

Five rescuers were killed after being sent to help flooded residents, while another man died after he was hit by a landslide. Officials estimate about $2.4 million worth of crops were damaged.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited a solar company in North Carolina to tout the administration's actions to boost investment in clean energy technolgy and lower costs

US President Joe Biden’s push for green energy tax credits will help boost a massive ramp up in private investment that will create jobs and lower energy costs for American families, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday.

Yellen called the administration’s plan “the most aggressive action that we’ve ever taken to address the climate crisis.”

She traveled to North Carolina to tour a solar plant and tout policies included in the recently approved Inflation Reduction Act, which together with the Infrastructure Law includes more than $430 billion in energy investments.

The legislation provides tax credits to households to make their homes more energy efficient or switch to cleaner sources, which will help lower costs, Yellen said.

But the administration’s approach also “rests on harnessing the engagement of the private sector,” the official said in her speech, delivered in front of an array of solar panels. 

“Beyond the consumer tax credits, we expect a significant mobilization of private investment into the clean energy sector,” she said. “These investments will accelerate the transition to our green energy future and lower energy costs for American households and businesses.”

– Economic stability –

In addition, “They will secure our energy supply against global price shocks. And they will provide good-paying, high-quality jobs across America.” 

Yellen said the transition is critical to address climate change which has seen more costly storms arise across the globe. 

“Climate change poses a grave risk to the productive capacity of our economy while also impacting its stability,” she said. 

But the transition to a clean energy economy also brings lower costs and “significant economic opportunities in high-growth industries, while building economic resilience and creating good-paying jobs across the country.”

She said these new programs also will serve the “important goal” of boosting domestic capacity to produce solar panels, batteries for electric vehicles and even the minerals needed to make the batteries.

“I think the legislation will be effective. And we’re already hearing announcements about new activities starting up in the United States,” Yellen told reporters.

Global supply chain snarls have hit manufacturers which rely on imported components and have struggled to meet demand for goods and cars in the United States. Ford said recently it will have to store more than 40,000 partially built vehicles which are awaiting parts.

“We’re seeing a lot of supply chain issues that continue that’s limiting the production of electric vehicles and other cars,” Yellen said, adding that “I think that will resolve over time, and EVs will become quite affordable especially with the support from the Inflation Reduction Act.”

Cuban residents reported 'apocalyptic' damage after Hurricane Ian pummeled the island for more than five hours, with some saying they had lost everything they owned

Powerful Hurricane Ian left a trail of destruction after battering western Cuba on Tuesday, while Florida battened down in preparation for a dangerous direct hit as the strengthening storm churns north.

Ian pummeled Cuba’s western regions for more than five hours early Tuesday morning, before moving out over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Insmet meteorological institute said.

In the western city of Pinar del Rio, AFP footage showed downed power lines, flooded streets and a scattering of damaged rooftops.

“Desolation and destruction. These are terrifying hours. Nothing is left here,” a 70-year-old resident of the city was quoted as saying in a social media post by his journalist son, Lazaro Manuel Alonso.

About 40,000 people were evacuated across Pinar del Rio province, which bore the brunt of the storm, local authorities said.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it expects Ian to gain strength in coming hours before hitting the west coast of Florida as an “extremely dangerous” major hurricane, potentially Category 4 on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale.

Calls to heed evacuation warnings were echoed from local Florida officials on up to US President Joe Biden, who said Ian “could be a very severe hurricane, life threatening and devastating in its impact.”

In its latest bulletin, the NHC said to be prepared for “life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding” in the Florida peninsula.

– ‘Nothing is left’ –

In Cuba, authorities are just beginning to assess the damage, but residents described “destruction” and posted images on social media of flooded streets and felled trees.

At the time of impact, the NHC reported Ian’s maximum wind speeds at 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, making it a Category 3 storm.

No deaths or injuries have yet been reported.

In Consolacion de Sur, 145-kilometers southwest of Havana, Caridad Fernandez, 65, said her roof was seriously damaged and water came through her front door.

“Everything we have is damaged,” she said. “But we’ll get through this, we’ll just keep moving forwards.”

In San Juan y Martinez, a growing hub for Cuba’s vital cigar industry, “it was apocalyptic, a real disaster,” Hirochi Robaina, from the Robaina tobacco plantation, said on Facebook.

A state electricity official said power was out in the provinces of Pinar del Rio and Artemisa.

– ‘Life and death’ –

In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said 2.5 million people were under evacuation orders as officials scrambled to prepare for the storm’s landfall forecast for early Wednesday.

DeSantis warned that although Ian’s exact path was still uncertain “the impacts will be far far broader.”

“When you have five to ten feet (1.5 to 3 meters) of storm surge that is not something that you want to be a part of. Mother Nature is a very fearsome adversary.” DeSantis said.

The NHC was predicting 12 to 18 inches of rainfall in central and northeast Florida, with isolated totals up to 24 inches.

“Widespread catastrophic flash, urban, and river flooding is expected across central and west Florida beginning midweek,” it warned.

“The closer it gets, obviously with the unknown, your anxiety gets a little higher,” said 30-year-old Chelsea Thompson, who was helping her parents’ board up their home in a mandatory evacuation zone southwest of Tampa.

The Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been activated in Florida, with an additional 1,800 coming later.

Authorities in several municipalities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, were distributing free sandbags to help residents protect their homes from flooding.

And Tampa International Airport was suspending operations from Tuesday at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT).

Biden has preemptively approved emergency aid in Florida through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while even NASA on the state’s east coast took precautions, rolling back its massive Moon rocket into its storage hanger for protection.

Like DeSantis, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell highlighted the danger of storm surge, saying it was the agency’s “biggest concern.”

“If people are told to evacuate by their local officials, please listen to them. The decision you choose to make may be the difference between life and death,” she said.

– Fiona’s wake –

The Caribbean and parts of eastern Canada are still counting the cost of powerful storm Fiona, which tore through last week, claiming several lives.

Half a million residents in the US territory of Puerto Rico were still without power, according to a tracking website.

bur-mca-bc/des/ec

A man (R) stands under the crawler as NASA's Moon rocket is rolled back it the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on September 27, 2022, as Florida braces for Hurricane Ian

It will be “difficult” for NASA to make a new attempt to launch its massive Moon rocket in October, an official from the US space agency said Tuesday, with a lift-off in November looking more likely. 

The SLS rocket, the most powerful ever designed by NASA, had to be returned overnight to its storage hangar in order to shelter it from the approach of Hurricane Ian. 

The next possible launch windows — determined according to the positions of the Earth and the Moon — are from October 17 to 31, then from November 12 to 27. 

“We know that the earliest it could go is late October, but more than likely we’ll go in the window in the middle of November,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson told CNN.

At a press conference, NASA associate administrator Jim Free was also asked about the rocket’s chances of attempting a lift-off in October. 

“I don’t think we’re going to take anything off the table,” he said. “But it is going to be difficult.” 

After the hurricane has passed by, NASA will have to take the time to change the batteries of the rocket’s self-destruct system, a complex operation that will be carried out in the storage hangar. 

Raising the 98-meter-high (320 foot) rocket and transporting it to its launch pad, before configuring it for takeoff, will also take days. 

The latest setback will therefore significantly postpone the launch of the long-awaited Artemis 1 mission. 

Two launch attempts had already been aborted at the last minute, at the end of August and then at the beginning of September, due to technical problems, including a leak when filling the rocket’s tanks with fuel. 

Fifty years after the last mission of the Apollo program, Artemis 1 will be used to ensure that the Orion capsule, at the top of the rocket, is safe to transport a crew to the Moon in the future.

Volunteers and city employees were scrambling to fill and load sandbags ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Ian, which US forecasters say is headed for a direct and potentially catastrophic hit on Tampa, Florida

Soon to be in the teeth of a monster storm, anxious Tampa residents were making final preparations Tuesday ahead of potentially catastrophic Hurricane Ian, which is forecast to slam Florida’s west coast with a ferocity unseen here in decades.

Authorities have issued evacuation orders for more than two million Floridians, including those in the most vulnerable areas around the Tampa Bay, where inlets, canals and waterways are susceptible to the mass flooding and life-threatening storm surges expected when Mother Nature unleashes its fury on Florida beginning Tuesday night.

City employees were filling and handing out free sandbags at various locations, where long lines of cars could be seen as residents scrambled for ways to protect their property.

Amanda Harrison, 66, told AFP she waited two hours at a distribution point to get “the maximum number of bags” to line her home ahead of Ian’s wrath. “And my fears are that they’re not going to do any good.”

A 100-mile (160-kilometer) stretch from Ft Myers north to Tampa is under the most serious threat, as Ian battered Cuba Tuesday as a Category 3 major hurricane and began building in intensity over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters on its way north.

Fearing it could hit as a highly dangerous Category 4, Floridians were stocking up on bottled water, food, and other emergency supplies like batteries and propane gas. At a home improvement store in west Tampa, dozens of customers were buying plywood to protect their homes.

Others loaded up the family car to exit the hurricane zone.

Chelsea Thompson and her husband rushed to her parents’ home in St Petersburg, southwest of Tampa, early Tuesday to help them board up doors and windows with plywood.

Her parents’ home is in one of the mandatory evacuation zones and the family knew there was no time to lose. 

“The closer it (Hurricane Ian) gets, obviously with the unknown, your anxiety gets a little higher,” said 30-year-old Thompson.

“Boarding up the house makes it more real too,” she added. “So I am pretty nervous, but hoping for the best.”

While her parents were leaving the city with their dog, bound for inland Orlando, Thompson and her husband decided to ride out the hurricane in their own, less vulnerable home.

“We’re hoping that it takes a little bit of a turn… so we don’t get as much impact” from Ian, she added.

While Tampa braced for potential disaster, resident Ricardo Castro said taking necessary pre-storm steps was crucial.

“A lot of people are worried, but I’m from Puerto Rico and this is normal for us,” said the 48-year-old longtime Tampa resident, referring to the US island territory battered by massive Hurricane Fiona one week earlier.

As he and a neighbor waited for sandbags, Castro jumped out of his car to help fill bags and hand them out. 

“If you prepare,” he said, “everything will be fine.”

Danny Aller and his wife Karen were leaving little to chance. Twenty five miles west of Tampa in Indian Shores, the couple were boarding up their modest home with plywood bearing a blunt, spray-painted message: “Go away Ian.”