AFP UK

Gusts from Hurricane Ian whip palm treets in Punta Gorda, Florida

Hurricane Ian slammed into the coast of southwest Florida as a monster Category 4 storm on Wednesday with powerful winds and torrential rains threatening “catastrophic” damage and flooding.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the eye of the “extremely dangerous” hurricane made landfall just after 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) on the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of the city of Fort Myers.

Dramatic television footage from the coastal city of Naples showed floodwaters surging into beachfront homes, submerging roads and sweeping away vehicles.

Some neighbourhoods in Fort Myers, which has a population of more than 80,000, resembled lakes.

The NHC said Ian was packing maximum sustained winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour when it made landfall and forecast “catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula.”

Florida’s Govenor Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that there were more than 1.1 million reported power outages in the state and that the figure is expected to grow.

Ian is set to impact several million people across Florida and in the southeastern states of Georgia and South Carolina, and may have caused multiple casualties offshore.

The US Border Patrol said 20 migrants were missing after their boat sank. Four Cubans who survived swam to shore in the Florida Keys and three were rescued at sea by the coast guard.

As hurricane conditions spread, forecasters warned of a once-in-a-generation calamity.

“This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come,” said National Weather Service director Ken Graham. “It’s a historic event.”

DeSantis said the state was going to experience a “nasty, nasty day, two days.”

– ‘Life-threatening’ –

In Punta Gorda, north of Fort Myers, streets emptied as howling winds ripped fronds off of palm trees and shook electricity poles.

Some 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with several dozen shelters set up, and voluntary evacuation recommended in others.

For those who decided to ride out the storm, authorities stressed it was too late to flee and residents should hunker down and stay indoors.

Airports in Tampa and Orlando stopped all commercial flights and cruise ship companies delayed departures or canceled voyages.

With up to two feet (61 centimeters) of rain expected to fall on parts of the so-called Sunshine State, and a storm surge that could reach devastating levels of 12 to 18 feet (3.6 to 5.5 meters), authorities were warning of dire emergency conditions.

“This is a life-threatening situation,” the NHC warned.

The storm was set to move across central Florida before emerging in the Atlantic Ocean by late Thursday.

– ‘Nothing is left here’ –

Ian a day earlier had plunged all of Cuba into darkness after battering the country’s west as a Category 3 storm and downing the island’s power network.

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

At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, Cuban state media reported.

In the United States, the Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen were called up in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.

DeSantis said state and federal responders were assigning thousands of personnel to address the storm response.

“There will be thousands of Floridians who will need help rebuilding,” he said.

As climate change warms the ocean’s surface, the number of powerful tropical storms, or cyclones, with stronger winds and more precipitation is likely to increase. 

The total number of cyclones, however, may not.

According to Gary Lackmann, a professor of atmospheric science at North Carolina State University, studies have also detected a potential link between climate change and rapid intensification — when a relatively weak tropical storm surges to a Category 3 hurricane or higher in a 24-hour period, as happened with Ian.

“There remains a consensus that there will be fewer storms, but that the strongest will get stronger,” Lackmann told AFP.

Gusts from Hurricane Ian whip palm treets in Punta Gorda, Florida

Hurricane Ian slammed into the coast of southwest Florida as a monster Category 4 storm on Wednesday with powerful winds and torrential rains threatening “catastrophic” damage and flooding.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the eye of the “extremely dangerous” hurricane made landfall just after 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) on the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of the city of Fort Myers.

Dramatic television footage from the coastal city of Naples showed floodwaters surging into beachfront homes, submerging roads and sweeping away vehicles.

Fort Myers, which has a population of more than 80,000, was also experiencing severe coastal flooding with some neighborhoods resembling lakes.

The NHC said Ian was packing maximum sustained winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour when it made landfall and forecast “catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula.”

More than one million customers have already lost power in Florida, a tracking website recorded, with the number expected to rise. Of 11 million customers tracked in Florida, 1.07 million were suffering outages, PowerOutages.us reported.

Ian is expected to affect several million people across Florida and in the southeastern states of Georgia and South Carolina, and may have caused multiple casualties offshore.

The US Border Patrol said 20 migrants were missing after their boat sank. Four Cubans who survived swam to shore in the Florida Keys and three were rescued at sea by the coast guard.

As hurricane conditions spread, forecasters warned of a once-in-a-generation calamity.

“This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come,” said National Weather Service director Ken Graham. “It’s a historic event.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the state was going to experience a “nasty, nasty day, two days.”

– ‘Life-threatening situation’ –

Punta Gorda, north of Fort Myers, was being pounded by torrential rain and streets emptied as the howling winds ripped fronds off of palm trees and shook electricity poles.

Some 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with several dozen shelters set up, and voluntary evacuation recommended in others.

For those who decided to ride out the storm, authorities stressed it was too late to flee and residents should hunker down and stay indoors.

With winds of 150 miles per hour as it made landfall, Ian is just seven miles per hour shy of Category 5 intensity — the strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Airports in Tampa and Orlando stopped all commercial flights and cruise ship companies delayed departures or canceled voyages.

With up to two feet (61 centimeters) of rain expected to fall on parts of the so-called Sunshine State, and a storm surge that could reach devastating levels of 12 to 18 feet (3.6 to 5.5 meters), authorities were warning of dire emergency conditions.

“This is a life-threatening situation,” the NHC warned.

The storm was set to move across central Florida before emerging in the Atlantic Ocean by late Thursday.

– ‘Nothing is left here’ –

Ian a day earlier had plunged all of Cuba into darkness after battering the country’s west as a Category 3 storm and downing the island’s power network.

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

At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, Cuban state media reported.

In the United States, the Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen were called up in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.

DeSantis said state and federal responders were assigning thousands of personnel to address the storm response.

“There will be thousands of Floridians who will need help rebuilding,” he said.

As climate change warms the ocean’s surface, the number of powerful tropical storms, or cyclones, with stronger winds and more precipitation is likely to increase. 

The total number of cyclones, however, may not.

According to Gary Lackmann, a professor of atmospheric science at North Carolina State University, studies have also detected a potential link between climate change and rapid intensification — when a relatively weak tropical storm surges to a Category 3 hurricane or higher in a 24-hour period, as happened with Ian.

“There remains a consensus that there will be fewer storms, but that the strongest will get stronger,” Lackmann told AFP.

Barbados's Prime Minister Mia Mottley secured funding from the International Monetary Fund to stabilize the island nation's economy and address the impact of climate change

Barbados on Tuesday became the first country to secure agreement on a financing package under a new IMF fund aimed at helping low-income countries tackle the impacts of climate change.

A team from the Washington-based lender agreed with the island nation’s government on a $183 million package through the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) launched earlier this year.

The proposed deal “will provide financing to support the country’s climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts, and support Barbados’ ambitious goal of transitioning to a fully renewable-based economy by 2030,” said Bert van Selm, who led the IMF mission to Barbados this week.

The country still has to gain approval from the International Monetary Fund’s board and must negotiate a more traditional loan program, as required by the terms of the RST.

Barbados has requested a three-year, $110 million aid package under the Extended Fund Facility to accompany the other financing, van Selm said in a statement.

He told reporters the board is due to consider the two packages later this year, with negotiating terms expected to be a smooth process, as the country recently concluded a four-year EFF.

“We’re very happy to have Barbados as the first user of this new facility,” he said.

There are some reforms the country has not been able to fully implement due to the Covid-19 pandemic that will be included in the new loan, such as pension reform, he added.

Van Selm noted that the country faces some of the same challenges hitting the global economy, including rising inflation and supply chain issues, but with tourism returning to the island, the economy is expected to grow by 10 percent this year.

“Barbados continues to confront economic challenges owing to the global pandemic and higher global commodity prices, but the recovery is now well underway,” he said, although he cautioned about ongoing risks to the outlook.

The aid programs will help the country continue reform efforts, including reducing public debt, while boosting economic stability, he added.

The IMF aims to mobilize $45 billion for the RST with contributions from member governments and provide 20-year loans available to about 140 low- and middle-income nations eligible for the funding.

Gusts from Hurricane Ian whip palm treets in Punta Gorda, Florida

Hurricane Ian made landfall on the southwest coast of Florida as a monster Category 4 storm on Wednesday with powerful winds and torrential rains threatening to cause “catastrophic” damage and flooding.

The National Hurricane Center said the eye of the “extremely dangerous” hurricane slammed into the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of the city of Fort Myers, at 3:05 pm (1905 GMT).

Dramatic television footage showed churning water submerging roads and sweeping away cars as the hurricane pounded the coastal city of Naples to the south of Fort Myers.

The NHC said Ian was packing maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour) when it made landfall and was already “causing catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula.”

Ian is expected affect several million people across Florida and in the southeastern states of Georgia and South Carolina and may have already claimed its first casualties.

The US Border Patrol said 20 migrants were missing after their boat sank. Four Cubans who survived swam to shore in the Florida Keys and three were rescued at sea by the coast guard.

As hurricane conditions spread, forecasters warned of a looming once-in-a-generation calamity.

“This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come,” said National Weather Service director Ken Graham. “It’s a historic event.”

Punta Gorda, north of Fort Myers, was being pounded by torrential rain and streets emptied as the howling winds ripped fronds off of palm trees and shook electricity poles.

Some 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with several dozen shelters set up, and voluntary evacuation recommended in others.

For those who decided to ride out the storm, authorities stressed it was too late to flee and that residents should hunker down and stay indoors.

– ‘Major impacts’ –

With winds of 150 mph as it made landfall, Ian is just seven mph shy of Category 5 intensity — the strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Airports in Tampa and Orlando stopped all commercial flights, and 850,000 households were already without power.

But that was a “drop in the bucket” compared with the outages expected over the next 48 hours, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said.

“This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days,” he added.

With up to two feet (61 centimeters) of rain expected to fall on parts of the so-called Sunshine State, and a storm surge that could reach devastating levels of 12 to 18 feet (3.6 to 5.5 meters) above ground, authorities were warning of dire emergency conditions.

“This is a life-threatening situation,” the NHC warned.

The storm was set to move across central Florida before emerging in the Atlantic Ocean by late Thursday.

– ‘Nothing is left here’ –

Ian a day earlier had plunged all of Cuba into darkness after battering the country’s west as a Category 3 storm and downing the island’s power network.

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

At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, Cuban state media reported.

In the United States, the Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen were called up in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.

DeSantis said state and federal responders were assigning thousands of personnel to address the storm response.

“There will be thousands of Floridians who will need help rebuilding,” he said.

As climate change warms the ocean’s surface, the number of powerful tropical storms, or cyclones, with stronger winds and more precipitation is likely to increase. 

The total number of cyclones, however, may not.

According to Gary Lackmann, a professor of atmospheric science at North Carolina State University, studies have also detected a potential link between climate change and rapid intensification — when a relatively weak tropical storm surges to a Category 3 hurricane or higher in a 24-hour period, as happened with Ian.

“There remains a consensus that there will be fewer storms, but that the strongest will get stronger,” Lackmann told AFP.

Huge waves spill over the famous Malecon esplanade in Havana as Hurricane Ian batters the island nation

Authorities were slowly restoring electricity in Cuba on Wednesday following an 18-hour power outage in the country caused by Hurricane Ian, which killed two people and left widespread damage.

Western Cuba was battered Tuesday by the fierce tropical storm that left the country’s power network damaged and its 11.2-million population in the dark.

“Work is underway in all of the affected municipalities in the western provinces. A detailed study is being carried out to determine and quantify the damage to begin the process of restoring the system,” said the state electricity company Union Electrica, the only authorized power supplier in the communist nation.

Union Electrica said that shortly after 5:00 pm on Tuesday, two high-voltage lines triggered protection systems after cables were broken by the fierce winds.

“This situation provoked a power imbalance due to the excess generation in the western area and the lack of generation in the central-eastern zone,” leading to “a total outage.”

By midday on Wednesday, the progressive restarting of eight central thermoelectric plants and generators had begun.

“It’s back!” shouted residents in Havana’s old town as they ran to check on the food inside their refrigerators.

Power was restored for some residents in Havana and another 11 provinces, but not in the three worst-affected provinces in western Cuba.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Pinar del Rio, one of the hardest-hit provinces, on Wednesday to view the damage.

The state electricity company had said late Tuesday that the entire country was “without electrical service.”

Cubans have had to get used to increasingly frequent power cuts since May, but not on a nationwide scale.

Much of the country’s power infrastructure is obsolete and poorly maintained.

“The electricity went out yesterday at 6:00 pm and we don’t know when it will be back on,” farmer Alejandro Perez, 35, told AFP by telephone from the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba earlier on Wednesday.

By contrast, on Isla de la Juventud island, which was the first part of the country struck by Ian, “we have had electricity since 5:00 pm yesterday,” Roxana Gonzalez, 75, told AFP.

Given the island lies 340 kilometers (210 miles) south of Havana, it has its own separate electricity grid.

Ian caused five buildings in the capital to collapse, while another 68 were partially damaged, authorities said.

Wind billows against palm trees as Hurricane Ian, a massive and powerful Category 4 storm, nears Charlotte Harbor, Florida

Monster Hurricane Ian walloped Florida on Wednesday, pounding the southern US state’s coast with extreme wind and rain, and causing “catastrophic” flooding from destructive storm surges.

Dramatic TV footage showed churning water submerging roads and sweeping away vehicles as the hurricane edged close to landfall near Fort Myers and Port Charlotte.

Ian, an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, was destined to affect several million people across Florida and in southeastern states Georgia and South Carolina.

The storm was already “causing catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula,” the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory. 

As hurricane conditions spread, forecasters warned of a looming once-in-a-generation calamity.

Ian could already have had deadly consequences off the coast as US Border Patrol said 23 migrants were missing after their boat sank. Four Cubans who survived swam to shore in the Florida Keys.

The NHC said Ian was bringing sustained winds of 155 miles (250 kilometers) per hour, just two mph shy of Category 5 intensity — the strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Some 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with several dozen shelters set up, and voluntary evacuation recommended in others.

For those who decided to ride out the storm, authorities were stressing it was too late to flee and that residents should hunker down and stay indoors.

– ‘Major impacts’ –

Airports in Tampa and Orlando stopped all commercial flights, and some quarter million households were already without power.

But that was a “drop in the bucket” compared with the outages expected over the next 48 hours, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said.

“This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days,” he added.

“Clearly this is a very powerful major hurricane that’s going to have major impacts.”

With conditions rapidly deteriorating, some thrill-seekers nevertheless were seen walking in the mud flats of Tampa Bay and further south at Port Charlotte’s Charlotte Harbor, ahead of Ian’s arrival.

With up to two feet (61 centimeters) of rain expected to fall on parts of the so-called Sunshine State, and a storm surge that could reach devastating levels of 12 to 18 feet (3.6 to 5.5 meters) above ground, authorities were warning of dire emergency conditions.

“This is a life-threatening situation,” the NHC warned.

The storm was set to move across central Florida before emerging in the Atlantic Ocean by late Thursday.

– Widespread blackout –

Ian a day earlier had plunged all of Cuba into darkness after battering the country’s west as a Category 3 storm and downing the island’s power network.

Only the few people with gasoline-powered generators had electricity on the island of more than 11 million people.

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

At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, Cuban state media reported.

– Rescue operation ready  –

In the United States, the Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been called up in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.

DeSantis said state and federal responders were assigning thousands of personnel to address the storm response, noting there were 250 aircraft, 300 boats and 1,600 high-water vehicles on hand for rescues and other critical operations.

“There will be thousands of Floridians who will need help rebuilding,” he said.

National Weather Service director Ken Graham echoed concerns about what lay ahead, expressing certainty Ian will leave a trail of destruction.

“This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come,” he said. “It’s a historic event.”

As climate change warms the ocean’s surface, the number of powerful tropical storms, or cyclones, with stronger winds and more precipitation is likely to increase. 

The total number of cyclones, however, may not.

According to Gary Lackmann, a professor of atmospheric science at North Carolina State University, studies have also detected a “potential link” between climate change and rapid intensification — when a relatively weak tropical storm surges to a Category 3 hurricane or higher in a 24-hour period, as happened with Ian.

“There remains a consensus that there will be fewer storms, but that the strongest will get stronger,” Lackmann told AFP.

The two Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe have been hit by leaks

Planet-heating methane spewing into the atmosphere from the damaged Nord Stream pipelines only has a modest impact on climate change, say scientists, but sharply highlights the risks of fossil-fuel driven greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Union has said it believes the leaks to the strategically important pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, were caused by a “deliberate act”.

While not in operation the pipelines still contained gas, and Danish authorities said they will now likely continue to empty out, with leaks expected to continue for at least a week.

With only rough estimates available as to how much natural gas might bubble up through the Baltic Sea, scientists expressed concerns about climate and environmental impacts — but stressed that the amounts of methane involved were a tiny fraction of global emissions.

“It is a real travesty, an environmental crime if it was deliberate,” said Jeffrey Kargel, senior scientist at the Planetary Research Institute in Arizona, calling the leak “disturbing”. 

But he added: “Although the amount of gas lost from the pipeline obviously is large, it is not the climate disaster one might think.”

What gas is leaking?

Natural gas is composed primarily of methane. 

This is about 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide on a century-long timescale — although it only lingers in the atmosphere for about a decade, compared to hundreds or thousands of years for C02.

Some of the methane emitted from the pipes will be oxidised in the water into C02, said Grant Allen, professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Manchester.

“But given how violent the venting of natural gas appears to be, most of the gas will reach the sea surface as methane,” he said. 

Methane is responsible for roughly 30 percent of the global rise in temperatures to date, even though it is far less abundant in the atmosphere than CO2.

How big is the leak?   

This is the subject of much uncertainty, although some experts and organisations have attempted to calculate the potential amount of gas in the pipelines.

One estimate is that there was up to 177 million cubic metres of natural gas still in Nord Stream 2, said Allen. 

“This is not a small amount of gas, and represents a reckless emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” he said, adding it was equivalent to the natural gas used by 124,000 UK homes in a year. 

Greenpeace have used similar figures to roughly estimate that the leak emissions could be equivalent to eight months of Denmark’s total greenhouse gas emissions. 

Paul Balcombe, an honorary lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, said estimates for the gas in the pipes range from around 150 to 300 million cubic metres.

“It is unlikely that they will release all their contents,” he told the Science Media Centre. 

But he added if just one of the pipes did completely empty out it would be about twice as much as the worst methane leak recorded in the United States, the 2015 Aliso Canyon leak.

“It would have a very large environmental and climate impact indeed, even if it released a fraction of this,” he said. 

Lauri Myllyvirta from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air  said he has calculated an estimated potential leak of between 180 and 270 kilotons from the two pipelines.

This figure is significant but, he said, is probably only 1.5 percent of the total annual methane emissions from oil and gas operations in Russia.

The International Energy Agency estimates this was some 18 million tonnes in 2021.

How does it compare to global emissions?

The IEA has decried the enormous amount of methane that leaks from fossil fuel operations every year — estimating the amount lost last year globally was broadly similar to all the gas used in Europe’s power sector.

The leak will certainly have a “strong immediate warming effect and cause poor air quality” Piers Forster, director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds. 

But ultimately its effect is small compared to the daily leaks from the world’s poorly-maintained gas networks, which see around 10 percent of global gas supply lost.

Experts said the incident further underscores the need to urgently switch from polluting fossil fuels, both to combat climate change and ensure energy security.   

This year’s energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already “supercharged the clean energy transition”, Myllyvirta said. 

Kargel, who calculated that the Nord Stream leak was roughly equivalent to 2.5 hours of global emissions, said it was a reminder of the urgent need to slash greenhouse emissions. 

“The global climate is changing drastically, with huge impacts on extreme climate mounting every year, decade after decade,” he said.  

Commander Cristoforetti: The Italian has become the first European woman to take charge of the International Space Station

Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti on Wednesday became the first European woman to take over command of the International Space Station during a ceremony broadcast live from space.

The outgoing commander, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, used the occasion to seemingly make a rare space-bound reference to the war in Ukraine, saying that “despite the storms on Earth, our international cooperation continues”.

During a relaxed ceremony, Artemyev handed Cristoforetti a golden key, symbolising that she is the new commander of the space station until she returns to Earth on October 10.

Cristoforetti, a 45-year-old European Space Agency astronaut and former Italian air force pilot, arrived for her second tour on the ISS in April.

She holds the record for the longest stay in space by a woman after spending 199 days in orbit in 2014 and 2015.

She is fifth woman — and the first non-US woman — to become commander since the role was created in 2000.

The space station, long a symbol of closer post-Cold War ties between Russia and the United States, has been in a difficult position since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.

Moscow responded with outrage at unprecedented sanctions over the war and the ISS has been one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Russia and the West.

– War’s echoes in space –

Artemyev praised the work of all 10 people onboard the space station — four Americans, five Russians and Cristoforetti.

He said he viewed the ISS as “a continuation of the Apollo–Soyuz programme,” the first crewed international space mission carried out jointly by the United States and Soviet Union in 1975 in the midst of the Cold War.

That was a time “when the relationship between the countries was also not simple, when there were people who found the way which leads to peace, and the way that war ends everywhere,” Artemyev said, not mentioning Ukraine by name.

For her part, Cristoforetti praised the work of her fellow crew, saying they all form “a tiny part of the gigantic team on the ground” which manages the operations of the space station.

The commander is responsible for all tasks performed by the crew members onboard the space station, which orbits more than 400 kilometres (248 miles) above Earth.

During an emergency, the commander has the authority to take decisions without waiting for instructions from ground control. 

In the event of a fire, depressurisation or the detection of toxic atmosphere — the three defined emergency scenarios — it is up to the commander to ensure that the lives of the crew are saved first.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who has served as ISS commander, said last year that it is “like being on a boat — there is only master onboard after God”.

The decision of who becomes commander is made jointly by the five space agencies involved in the station: NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos, Europe’s ESA, Canada’s CSA and Japan’s JAXA.

Wind billows against palm trees as Hurricane Ian, a massive and powerful Category 4 storm, nears Charlotte Harbor, Florida

Heavy winds and rain pummelled Florida on Wednesday as Hurricane Ian intensified to just shy of the strongest Category 5 level, threatening to wreak “catastrophic” destruction on the southern US state.

Forecasters warned of a looming once-in-a-generation calamity, with life-threatening storm surges, extensive flooding and devastating winds promising what Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called a “nasty” natural disaster.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory that the “extremely dangerous eyewall of Ian (was) moving onshore” and bringing sustained winds of 155 miles (250 kilometers) per hour, just two mph shy of Category 5 intensity — the strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Some 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with voluntary evacuation recommended in several others.

With the golden hour to flee having passed — and hurricane force winds nearly touching southwestern Florida — authorities were advising residents to hunker down and stay indoors.

“Ian has strengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane,” the NHC said, warning of “catastrophic storm surge, winds, and flooding.”

Airports in Tampa and Orlando stopped all commercial flights, and some 337,000 households were already without power.

“This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days,” DeSantis said.

“It could make landfall as a Category 5, but clearly this is a very powerful major hurricane that’s going to have major impacts.”

With conditions rapidly deteriorating, some thrill-seekers were seen walking in the mud flats of Tampa Bay and in Charlotte Harbor, further south, ahead of Ian’s arrival.

The storm was poised to roar ashore near Fort Myers and Port Charlotte, along the state’s west coast, before moving across central Florida and emerging in the Atlantic Ocean by late Thursday.

With up to two feet (61 centimeters) of rain expected to fall on parts of the so-called Sunshine State, and a storm surge that could reach devastating levels of 12 to 18 feet (3.6 to 5.5 meters) above ground, authorities were warning of dire emergency conditions.

“This is a life-threatening situation,” the NHC warned.

– Widespread blackout –

Ian a day earlier had plunged all of Cuba into darkness after battering the country’s west as a Category 3 for more than five hours before moving back out over the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm damaged Cuba’s power network and left the island “without electrical service,” state electricity company Union Electrica said.

Only the few people with gasoline-powered generators had electricity on the island of more than 11 million people.

Others had to make do with flashlights or candles at home, and lit their way with cell phones as they walked the streets.

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

At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, Cuban state media reported.

– ‘Historic event’ –

In the United States, the Pentagon said 3,200 national guardsmen had been called up in Florida, with another 1,800 on the way.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) administrator Deanne Criswell warned that Ian’s “painful impacts” were being felt even before the hurricane’s landfall.

National Weather Service director Ken Graham echoed concerns about what lies ahead, expressing certainty Ian will leave a trail of destruction.

“This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come,” he said. “It’s a historic event.”

As climate change warms the ocean’s surface, the number of powerful tropical storms, or cyclones, with stronger winds and more precipitation is likely to increase. 

The total number of cyclones, however, may not.

According to Gary Lackmann, a professor of atmospheric science at North Carolina State University, studies have also detected a “potential link” between climate change and what is known as rapid intensification — when a relatively weak tropical storm surges to a Category 3 hurricane or higher in a 24-hour period, as happened with Ian.

“There remains a consensus that there will be fewer storms, but that the strongest will get stronger,” Lackmann told AFP.

bur-mca-mlm/bgs

Huge waves spill over the famous Malecon esplanade in Havana as hurricane Ian batters the island nation

Cuba was still without electricity on Wednesday more than 12 hours after a massive power cut caused by Hurricane Ian, which killed two people and left widespread damage.

Western Cuba was battered by the fierce tropical storm on Tuesday that left the country’s power network damaged.

“Not one drop of water has fallen since 5:20 pm (on Tuesday) and there is no electricity,” Chelita Delkago, a 52-year-old homemaker from western Cuba, told AFP by telephone.

State electricity company Union Electrica, the only authorized power supplier in the communist nation, said Tuesday night that the country of 11.2 million was “without electrical service.”

The company had said power would be gradually restored overnight.

In some cities power did resume briefly.

Cubans have had to get used to increasingly frequent power cuts since May, but not on a nationwide scale.

Much of the country’s power infrastructure is obsolete and poorly maintained.

“The electricity went out yesterday at 6:00 pm and we don’t know when it will be back on,” farmer Alejandro Perez, 35, told AFP by telephone from the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba.

By contrast, on Isla de la Juventud island, which was the first part of the country struck by Ian, “we have had electricity since 5:00 pm yesterday,” Roxana Gonzalez, 75, told AFP.

Given the island lies 340-kilometers south of Havana, it has its own separate electricity grid.

In Havana, a city of 2.1 million, the chimneys of a Turkish generator boat anchored in the harbor that provides electricity for the capital were extinguished.

Likewise, the old and small Tallapiedra thermoelectric plant, which only operates in emergencies, was out of action.

Ian caused five buildings in the capital to collapse while another 68 were partially damaged, authorities said.