More than 31,000 homes were without power early on Wednesday as the state braces for Hurricane Ian, which is expected to make landfall later in the day.
Workers board up the windows of a convenience store in the city.
During a late-night press conference on Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron Desantis urged people living in the evacuated areas to leave immediately.
According to Power Outage.us, more than 31,000 households in Florida were without power early on Wednesday.
At 2 a.m., Ian was a Category 3 Hurricane with maximum wind speeds of 120 mph.
The storm is expected to get stronger before hitting Port Charlotte on Wednesday.
Some coastal regions of Florida are expected to face life threatening storm surge as much as 12 feet high while other regions are at risk of flash flooding according to the National Hurricane Center.
People in the Florida Keys were already feeling the effects of the storm as it passed through the west of the island chain.
Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc in Cuba on Tuesday, killing at least two people. The entire island nation was without power after the storm and authorities were still trying to get it back on. Millions of people in Florida are likely to face power failures. Florida Light and Power said in a statement that power could be out for several days in some areas.
The areas targeted by Hurricane Ian grow by the day.
Here is a look at the damage caused by Ian.
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