Millions without power as Ian downgraded to tropical storm

More than 2.5 million customers across Florida are without power this morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

Ian has weakened into a tropical storm after making landfall on Wednesday near Fort Myers as a Category 4 hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center says the storm is approaching northeastern Florida.

Ian continues to pack a punch dumping rain on Florida. The storm might be losing intensity as it moves inland but it still producing a dangerous storm surge and flooding as it crawls up the state.

Some areas are reporting more than a foot of rainfall.

President Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for the state of Florida in the aftermath of Ian.

“Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the White House said. 

The extremely dangerous conditions that Ian is unleashing including catastrophic floods and life-threatening storm surge will continue as the storm moves across the state and north toward Georgia and South Carolina.