Now it's Florida's turn to hunker down for a hurricane.
After a late start to the hurricane season, Puerto Rico is still cleaning up after Hurricane Fiona. Now Hurricane Ian could potentially hit the Tampa, Fla., area as a Category 4 in the next two days, prompting cancellations and evacuations.
The International BoatBuilders' Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) announced Sept. 25 that it would cancel the event that had been slated to run Sept. 27-29 at the Tampa Convention Center. Attendees included materials suppliers and composites molders.
While the Tampa Bay area is not a major plastics processing area — Plastics News records show a handful of plants in the immediate area, including packaging blow molders and extrusion firms — weather experts are predicting Ian has the potential to be one of the worst storms on Florida's Gulf Coast for 100 years. The storm is expected to continue north along the coast through the rest of this week. More than 300,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate, including MacDill Air Force Base.
"People along Florida's west coast need to take Ian with the utmost seriousness and consult local authorities for evacuation orders that could be extended quickly based on Ian's progress," Yale Climate Connections, part of the Yale School of the Environment, warned.