Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida this afternoon as a powerful Category 4 storm - and tonight that US state is experiencing major storm surge Maximum sustained winds were around 150 mph as it hit the southwest coast at the island of Cayo Costa near Fort Myers and Cape Coral. We spoke to Belize's Honorary Consul in Florida about what Belizeans in Western and Central Flordia are facing:
Janine Sylvestre, Honorary Consul
"There has been no word from Belizeans who may have been affected. We understand that there is over 600,000 people without power, so I don't expect to hear anything just this moment, but I am certain that I will hear from Belizeans as the hours and days go by. We hope to be working with the Belize association in Florida once we know how many Belizeans are affected."
"Through these organizations we will be working with them in galvanizing the Belizean community to assist in whatever way that we could in getting supplies, getting word back home - whatever it is that we could do."
"We hope that they are safe, that they heeded the evacuation warnings, because it is that type of storm that will be speaking about for decades."
That hotline is 305-755-0276.
