▶ Watch Video: Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Barbara Tripp on Hurricane Ian
Update: Hurricane Ian has now made landfall as a Category 4 storm. Follow CBS News’ live coverage here.
For Tampa Fire Rescue Chief and Emergency Manager Barbara Tripp and her staff, it’s the calm before the storm with a lot of preparations being made ahead of Hurricane Ian‘s upcoming landfall.
About 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders as Hurricane Ian makes its way to Florida’s west coast.
Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg were initially bracing to get the worst of the storm, but the latest forecasts suggested Ian could make landfall in the Fort Myers area.
Hurricane Ian could make landfall on Florida’s southwest coast as a Category 5 storm — the strongest storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, officials said at a press conference Wednesday morning.
Tripp told “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday that emergency crews are standing by and are prepared to deal with whatever Hurricane Ian could bring.
“We have increased our resources throughout the state. So now even with the shift of the hurricane, we aren’t letting our guard down,” Tripp said.
This is the first major hurricane to land in the southwestern Florida area in decades. Tripp said that regardless of where the storm makes landfall, her crews are prepared to help other counties and regions if needed.
But if conditions deteriorate, Tripp said that the county will not be able to provide emergency services to those who decided to ignore the evacuation orders. She urged anyone in evacuation zones who has not yet left to safer grounds to do so now before it is too late.
“You know, once the wind up to like 40 miles per hour is sustained, emergency personnel cannot help you. We urge everyone, if you are listening, listen to the rules, listen to the laws. If they tell you to evacuate, go with family, go with friends, take care of yourself and your family,” Tripp said.
