The National Hurricane Center of the United States announced that Hurricane Ian was approaching Florida, as its strength intensified into a "very dangerous hurricane," adding

that it had become classified as Category 4 by the five-degree Simpson Ambassador Scale. Ian killed two people Tuesday in Cuba, which was plunged into darkness by power outages throughout its territory.

Hurricane winds of 220 km/h threaten to cause a "deadly storm" and "catastrophic" winds and rains, according to the National Hurricane Centre.

Evacuation orders were issued in about 10 coastal areas of Florida, around 2 a.m. local time, with recommendations to evacuate people voluntarily in several other areas, according to relief teams.

Heavy winds swept through the Keys archipelago and part of Florida's southwestern coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Air traffic stopped at Tampa airport Tuesday late in the afternoon.

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that 3,000 National Guard personnel were on alert in Florida, while another 1,800 were expected to arrive.

Hurricane Ian hit Cuba Tuesday with a magnitude of 3 and swept the west of the country for five hours before heading for the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Cuban Meteorological Institute "INSMET."

Two people were killed in the western province of Pinar del Rio, according to a Cuban State media. Every island with 11.2 million people was drowned out.

The eye of the typhoon left Cuban territory at 09.50 hours (16.50 TG) near Puerto Esperansa, according to the Cuban Meteorological Institute.

Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel inspected the worst affected areas of Pinar del Rio on Tuesday. He wrote in a tweet, "Great damage", stressing that aid was sent to the region.

Some 40 thousand people were evacuated from their homes in the province of Pinar del Rio, where "serious damage" was reported by local Communist Party official Yamila Ramos.

Ian came after Hurricane Fiona, which ravaged Canada's Atlantic coast on Saturday, taking three lives after hitting the Caribbean, where seven people died