The roof of the ICU ward at a hospital in Port Charlotte has been ripped off, a doctor who works there has said.

Dr Birgit Bodine told US media that the lower levels of the building were also flooded, meaning the sickest patients - who are all on ventilators - had to be evacuated to other parts of the hospital.

Videos shared on social media show puddles of water on the floors, with towels scattered trying to dry them up and buckets all over the place.

“For us, as much as everything is terrible and we’re exhausted... as long as our patients do OK and nobody ends up dying or having a bad outcome, that’s what matters,” Dr Bodine told the Washington Post.

Hurricane Ian has dropped to a category one storm as it moves inland.

This is according to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, which has a one to five rating - and with the storm's windspeeds peaking at 90mph (145 km/h), it is scaled at category one.

Pictures are emerging from the city of Fort Myers, only a few miles from where the hurricane made landfall on Wednesday.

As we reported earlier, the county administrator said in a news conference on Wednesday that the community "has been - to some extent - decimated".

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Submerged cars, flooded car parks and power cuts are some of the dramatic scenes we're seeing throughout south-west Florida, as the storm system moves away from the coast.

Hurricane Ian continues to batter Florida's coast, with heavy storms and high-speed winds.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, here's what's been happening:

• By 23:00 in Florida, Hurricane Ian was losing power as it moved inland, packing wind speeds of 90mph (150km/h), which would make it a category one storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale
• It was located 70 miles south of Orlando and is forecast to continue moving across Florida, emerging into the Atlantic Ocean in the next few hours
• On Friday, it is projected to move northward to Georgia and South Carolina, while remaining at hurricane strength
• Power outages in Florida have struck over two million homes and businesses, according to website poweroutage.us
• The city of Fort Myers and its surrounding county have declared a curfew after reports of looting at a petrol station
• Tampa's mayor warned on Wednesday night that the most dangerous 24 hours lay ahead

• President Joe Biden will receive a briefing on Thursday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has told Fox News that Hurricane Ian "is clearly the biggest flood event" the south-west of the state has ever seen.

"That, of course, presents a lot of hazards on the backend. We've been telling folks: be careful once the storm goes past," DeSantis said.

He said that during Hurricane Irma in 2017, seven people died as a direct result of the storm, but a further 77 people died in the aftermath.

The Republican governor was asked about support from Democratic President Biden's administration.

DeSantis said he had requested financial support from the federal government for the next 60 days, and he was optimistic about receiving it.

"I'll work with anybody that wants to help the people of south-west Florida, throughout our state."

Hurricane Ian has caused power outages to more than two million customers in Florida, PowerOutage.us reports, external.

Officials have warned that power outages could occur due to downed power lines, as the storm and high winds surges through the state's southwest.

They've issued caution that blackouts will continue until recovery operations can begin, after Hurricane Ian passes.

The mayor of Tampa has urged people to shelter in place through the night, adding that the next 24 hours will be the most dangerous.

“We are going to get the majority of the rain and the higher winds starting about 8 pm, and they are going to last throughout the night,” Jane Castor said at a Wednesday evening briefing.

“It’s still going to cause flooding,” she said, adding that the flood levels won't rise as quickly as they did in southern Florida.

The storm surge will bring "a more gradual influx of water,” Castor said.

Unlike further south in Florida, Tampa does not currently have any plans to impose a curfew, she confirmed.

Anthony Reynes, forecaster at the National Hurricane Center, tells the BBC it will take days until we have a clear picture of the extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Ian.

But one thing is for sure, Reynes says: "It's going to be catastrophic."

Image source, Getty Images

A curfew has been declared in Lee County, including in the city of Fort Myers.

The curfew began at 18:00e "until further notice", the county said in an online post.

The declaration came after storm conditions hampered the ability of Fort Myers police to respond to reports of looting at a petrol station.

"It will be enforced by law enforcement," Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais said in a news conference on Wednesday evening.

He added that there will be a "zero tolerance policy for looting and violence in this town".

Earlier he said that the Fort Myers community "has been - to some extent - decimated", but it is too early to assess the "extreme damage to the area".

Nick Underwood, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has flown on quite a few flights through the eye of a storm as part of the federal agency's Hurricane Hunters programme.

But he says Wednesday's flight through Hurricane Ian was like nothing he had ever seen before.

The latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center says that Ian is currently located about 95 miles (150km) south-west of Orlando, with maximum sustained winds of 115mph.

The storm is moving slowly north-east, going at around eight miles per hour, and is forecast to travel through the state and emerge into the Atlantic Ocean by Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Ian is currently a category three hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outwards up to 50 miles from the centre.

Ian will still be at hurricane strength when it reaches Georgia and South Carolina on Friday, the NHC said.

Image source, Getty Images

There are fears that Hurricane Ian could deluge an area of Florida where the US extracts most of it phosphate fertilizer, leading to dangerous contaminants spilling into waterways.

Gigantic pools of waste byproduct made during fertilizer production sit in open-air ponds known as "stacks" in the Tampa area.

According to AP News, over one billion tonnes of waste water sits in these stacks. Environmentalists warn that they could be vulnerable to flooding in the coming hours and days.

Two stacks, including one that leaked 215m gallons of polluted water into Tampa Bay last year, are considering most at risk of overflowing.

One of the two facilities has only 24in (60cm) of rainfall capacity, while the other can receive only 9.4in before it bursts its banks.

As Ian cuts a swath across Florida, regions across the state are forecast to receive around 18in of rain.

Hurricanes are among the most violent storms on Earth and there’s evidence they’re getting more powerful.

So how do they form and what impact, if any, is climate change having?

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency for Hurricane Ian.

Youngkin's decision comes as the storm is expected to affect parts of the state, which is 800 miles (1,287 km) north of Florida, from Friday.

"Hurricane Ian is a large, powerful storm, and current predictions indicate that it may impact parts of Virginia later this week into early next week,” Youngkin said in a statement., external

Earlier on Wednesday, North Carolina and South Carolina declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.

Georgia's governor declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.

Image source, .

Video is emerging of the destruction in southern Florida.

Electrical cables have been seen falling and sending sparks into the streets.

Winds are toppling trees and power lines, while car parks are being deluged.

Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the US, made landfall in Florida at 15:05 local time on Wednesday near Fort Myers, bringing severe flooding and high winds.

The category four storm barrelled through Cuba earlier this week, knocking out power across the country.

Image source, .

Here's what's been happening:

• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference that emergency officials, including 7,000 National Guard troops, are preparing to lead rescue operations into flood zones
• Ian landed with sustained wind speeds up to 241km/h (150mph), just short of the threshold for category five storms - the strongest classification
• More than 4,000 flights, into and out of the US, are currently cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday
• 1.6 million Floridians are experiencing power cuts due to the storm
• US Border Patrol and Coast Guard are looking for around 23 missing migrants after their ship sank during the storm
• Ian’s power at landfall could confirm it as in the top five of strongest hurricanes by wind speed ever to hit the US, according to US media

Having survival essentials on hand, like water, cash, canned food and medicine, is essential for sheltering through a hurricane.

If you’re at home, make sure to:

• Have a working flashlight and spare batteries
• Charge your mobile phone and portable chargers
• Bring things inside that can fly away in a storm, i.e. garden furniture
• Close windows and board them up

And once the hurricane hits:

• Stay in the room with fewest doors and windows
• Avoid the basement as there is a risk of flooding
• Avoid using candles in case of fire
• Keep in touch with latest updates from officials

More tips for surviving a hurricane can be found here.

Alexandra Ostasiewicz
BBC News, St Petersburg

Just north of where the eye made landfall, bands of rain are sweeping across the Tampa Bay area, relenting every few minutes and then building back up and pounding against buildings.

Residents who decided to shelter in place are peering out to see what the damage is so far. With the storm set to continue overnight and well into Thursday morning, you can already find downed trees and branches dotting the roadside.

There is a sense of relief here that the storm, once predicted to make a direct hit in Tampa, shifted course, but people are still worried as the prospect of further damage, flooding and sustained loss of power looms.

Heavy flooding has been reported in the south-western Florida town of Naples, where the city's fire department has had to contend with nearly waist-high water in one of their stations.

A live video posted to Facebook shows firefighters struggling to load gear on to emergency vehicles amid the floodwaters.

According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the city experienced a water level of more than 9ft (2.74m) by 17:00 local time on Wednesday, far surpassing a forecast high of 2.75ft.