Hurricane Ian updates: Storm's projected track shifts west to North Carolina mountains

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — The latest projected path of Hurricane Ian shows it heading towards the North Carolina mountains on Saturday.

At 5 a.m., Wednesday, Ian was upgraded to a Category 4 storm before making landfall in Florida.

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Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday, knocking out power to the entire country and leaving 11 million people without electricity.

Its exact track could determine how severe the storm surge is for Tampa Bay, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. Landfall south of the bay could make the impact “much less bad,” McNoldy said.

By Saturday, the storm — having weakened to a post tropical event — continues through South Carolina and into North Carolina west of Charlotte.

What will Ian do to North Carolina?

The specifics of Ian’s forecast for North Carolina are becoming more clear and the timeline for when the storm will arrive in North Carolina has remained fairly steady.

Rain could begin as early as Thursday evening and tropical-storm force gusts could arrive in the southern part of the state Thursday night into Friday morning. Winds in excess of 30 mph are likely to linger through Saturday morning. Flash flooding and power outages could start popping up on Saturday.

Shifts in Ian’s track could change the forecast for your neighborhood; what happens where you live greatly depends on where Ian ends up traveling.

But generally speaking, the storm is expected to dump between 2-4 inches of rain across central North Carolina.

Preps underway in North Carolina

Officials in Raleigh and Durham are already planning for any impacts felt from Hurricane Ian. Officials in Raleigh are making sure flood-prone areas are being looked at to deal with any heavy rains. Meanwhile in Durham city leaders are meeting with Duke Energy to talk about their hurricane preparations.

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Hurricane Ian damage

Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba on Tuesday as a major hurricane, with nothing to stop it from intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 storm before it hits Florida, where officials ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate before it crashes ashore Wednesday.

Ian made landfall at 4:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, rushed in emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in Cuba’s main tobacco-growing region.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said “significant wind and storm surge impacts” were occurring Tuesday morning in western Cuba. Ian’s sustained top winds were 125 mph (205 kmh) and as much as 14 feet (4.3 meters) of storm surge was predicted along Cuba’s coast.

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As Ian’s center moved into the Gulf, official media began showing scenes of destruction in the country’s world-famous tobacco belt. The Cubadebate website showed photos of devastation at the Finca Robaina cigar producer, where wood-and-thatch roofs were smashed to the ground, and floodwaters flowed through the town of San Juan y Martinez.

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More than 1 million Cubans were without power Tuesday morning, including all of the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Artemisa. There were no reports of deaths.

Florida prepares for Hurricane Ian

Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to collect bags of sand and cleared store shelves of bottled water. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a statewide emergency and mobilized 5,000 Florida National Guard troops, with another 2,000 on standby in neighboring states.

In Key West, the airport closed Tuesday as gusty rains from the storm added to a king tide to swamp the streets, prompting animal rescuers to delay venturing out until after Ian passes. In Orlando, Disney World closed four hotels as a precautionary measure while holding off on any decision to shut down its theme parks. In Florida’s northeastern corner, the U.S. Navy said it planned to move ships and aircraft from its base outside Jacksonville.

Playing it safe, NASA was rolling its moon rocket from the launch pad to its Kennedy Space Center hangar, adding weeks of delay to the test flight. The airports in Tampa and St. Petersburg announced they’ll close Tuesday afternoon.

President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property. FEMA has strategically positioned generators, millions of meals and millions of liters of water, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Damaging winds and flooding are expected across the entire peninsula as Ian moves north, reaching into Georgia, South Carolina and other parts of the southeastern U.S. between Friday and Sunday, the hurricane center said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.