Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Cuba en route to US

A strengthening Hurricane Ian’s rain and winds lashed Cuba’s western tip, where authorities have evacuated 50,000 people, as it became a major Category 3 storm early Tuesday and roared on a path that could see it hit Florida’s west coast as a Category 4 hurricane.

Over 38,000 people have been evacuated so far, over 35,000 of them in the homes of friends and relatives in Pinar del Río, according to official media reports. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the island’s west coast could see as much as 4.3 meters of storm surge. The cyclone will pass in the next few hours and also hit the territories of Artemisa and Mayabeque.