Hurricane Ian Blows Shallow Water Away From the Florida Coast

Hurricane Ian’s winds pushed shallow water on the Florida coast back into the sea on Wednesday allowing people to walk on parts of the beach that are usually under water.

Ian began lashing Florida's Gulf Coast with powerful winds and drenching rain, prompting authorities to warn residents to hunker down as the eye of the Category 4 storm lurked just offshore.

At 7 a.m. Eastern, Ian was around 80 miles southwest of Punta Gorda, Florida, carrying maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

It upgraded Ian an to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane, though it said the storm was expected to weaken somewhat after reaching land.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that people in four Gulf Coast counties were no longer safe to evacuate and urged residents to get off the roads and stay inside.