Dozens of Cuban migrants are missing after a boat they were on capsized off the coast of Florida as the Sunshine State is inundated with 155mph winds.
As the hurricane gained traction in the Gulf of Mexico, it took down a boat carrying Cubans to the United States.
Four people managed to swim ashore to Florida's Stock Island, Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar, of the U.S. Border Patrol's Miami Sector said, according to BNO News.
But 23 people on board the boat are still missing. The United States Coast Guard is now initiating a search and rescue operation in the area ahead of the storm.
Hurricane Ian has already devastated the communist Caribbean island, knocking out power to all 11 million of its residents and tearing down decades-old infrastructure. Power was just beginning to be restored to some consumers Wednesday afternoon - a full day after the 'total fall' of the island's grid.
'Restoration work in Cuba's National Electric System (SEN) has made it possible to recover 224 megawatts (MW), and restore service to a part of consumers in 12 provinces of the country,' according to a statement released by the state on Wednesday.
The storm is now slamming into Florida, where it is expected to cause even more damage with windspeeds just shy of a Category 5 status.
The Cubans' desperate escape came as the entire island was without power on Wednesday, after Hurricane Ian pummeled the country with 125 mph winds before becoming even more powerful as it approaches Florida.
Ian made landfall in Cuba's Pinar del Rio Province as a Category 3 storm early Tuesday, destroying the country's profitable tobacco and banana farms and leaving two residents dead as buildings collapsed around them.
It devastated the Communist island nation, where infrastructure has been crumbling over the past few decades and the electrical grid has been faltering for months with blackouts an everyday occurrence for many.
At first, the storm knocked out power to about 1 million people before wiping out the entire power grid and leaving all 11.3 million residents without electricity, the Electricity Union reported.
The state electric company Union had earlier said they would turn off power in the capital Havana to avoid electrocutions, deaths, and property damage while the island waited out the anticipated storm.
It was the first time in memory - perhaps ever - that the whole island had lost power.