As Hurricane Ian continues his churn through Florida it has been a long night here in Orlando with not much sleep as the storms relentless rain and sustained wind continues to pound outside our windows.
Hurricane Ian may only be a shadow of his former self, having been downgraded to a Tropical storm, but in the darkness of night, Ian has been an unwelcome visitor to Central Florida.
Flood warnings and flash flood warnings are still in effect across Central Florida, here in Orange County, many homes have lost power, tree limbs are scattered across the roads, and there is reports of flooding due to the heavy rain. The area has already received a total rainfall of 8 to 12 inches with an additional 2 to 4 inches expected.
At Walt Disney World where thousands of guests have been asked to stay in place throughout the night, flooding has been reported at the Riverea Resort, and at the Swan & Dolphin hotels.
On the main tourist strip of International Drive, where many visitors, recovery crews, and storm evacuees hunker down in hotels, it appears that no major damage has been reported so far.
In Kissimmee, police and fire crews announced at 3 am that they were no longer responding to calls as sustained winds have reached 45 mph. Flooding appears to be the main problem in the area.
In Downtown Orlando street signs had blown over, and throughout the area tree limbs had given in to the storms constant pounding, while flooding has been an issue, with reports an ambulance was trapped in standing water on Silver Ct.
Now as daybreak arrives, we will discover if Ian has played fair on his visit to Central Florida.
