Hurricane Ian pulls water out of Tampa Bay

STORY: The effect was the opposite of the life-threatening storm surge at the center and the southern end of the storm, where water rose more than six feet around Fort Myers, flooding anything at ground level.

At 11 a.m. ET, Ian was around 50 miles southwest of Punta Gorda, Florida, with sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. That was just shy of a Category 5 designation, which is the most severe storm classification with sustained winds of at least 157 mph, though Ian was expected to weaken a notch after hitting land, the center said.

The hurricane was expected to crash into Florida at about 2 p.m. in Charlotte County, about 100 miles south of Tampa and just north of Fort Myers. The region is home to miles of sandy beaches, scores of resort hotels, and numerous mobile home parks, a favorite with retirees and vacationers alike.

Forecasters say Ian would unleash wind-driven high surf, torrential rains that may cause storm surges of up to 18 feet along with intense thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. The storm's outer bands were already bringing heavy winds and rains to much of the Gulf Coast on Wednesday morning.

More than 200,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida midday on Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis said, adding that number was a "drop in the bucket to what's going to happen in the next 24-48 hours."

Earlier this week, authorities told more than 2.5 million residents to evacuate.