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Officials: Migrant boat carrying more than 20 people sinks off Florida during Hurricane Ian
Officials said four migrants swam ashore and three more have been rescued.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for 20 missing people off the coast of Florida, saying a boat carrying migrants sank as Hurricane Ian neared the peninsula.
Miami Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said on Twitter Wednesday that four Cuban migrants swam ashore to Stock Island near Key West after their boat sank in the extreme weather. He said the U.S. Coast Guard was searching for 23 more people.
Hours later, U.S. Coast Guard officials said crews rescued three people about two miles south of Boca Chica Key. Officials said they were brought to a local hospital for symptoms of exhaustion and dehydration.
Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida near Cayo Costa on Wednesday as a massive Category 4 storm.
“This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, stressing that people in Ian’s path along the coast should rush to the safest possible shelter and stay there.
About 2.5 million people had been ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before the storm hit the coast with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. The storm was heading inland, where it was expected to weaken, but residents in central Florida could still experience hurricane-force winds.
Before making its way through the Gulf of Mexico to Florida, Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday.
Cuban officials said they had begun to restore some power Wednesday after Hurricane Ian knocked out electricity to the entire island while devastating some of the country’s most important tobacco farms when it hit the island’s western tip as a major storm.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.