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Many South Florida schools are closed through Thursday as Hurricane Ian, now an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane, is set to bring heavy wind and rain to the area before making landfall along the state's west coast later today.

What's happening: Tropical storm force winds reached southeast and southwest Florida as the intensifying hurricane moved some 75 miles southwest of Naples, packing maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a 5am update Wednesday.

Several tornadoes were reported to have struck Florida after Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified on Tuesday night.

The big picture: Ian's outer bands spawned tornadoes along the east coast of Florida as it reached Category 3 intensity Tuesday ahead of an expected ramp-up to a Category 4 on Wednesday. The tornado threat to southeast Florida counties continued overnight as the major hurricane moved closer.

It's always nice to be a good neighbor, especially in a hurricane.

What's happening: The Miami Dolphins are hosting Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the team evacuates from the path of Hurricane Ian.

Storm surge from Hurricane Ian threatens more than 1 million single-family and multifamily homes on Florida's Gulf Coast, according to a new report from housing analytics firm Core Logic.

• The reconstruction cost value — more simply put, how much it would cost to rebuild those homes — totals $258.3 billion.

Floridians aren't rushing to get the updated COVID-19 boosters that were distributed statewide this month.

What's happening: A state health report released Friday shows that only 37,000 of Florida's 20 million eligible residents received the new bivalent vaccine, which is intended to target Omicron subvariants, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

Miami Beach is proposing to pay $119,000 to settle allegations of excessive force stemming from a July 2021 incident in which officers were captured on body camera and surveillance footage beating a South Beach tourist who was recording them on video.

Catch up fast: Five officers were arrested last year on charges they used excessive force during the arrest of two Black men at the Royal Palm Hotel in South Beach.

Ian strengthened into a Category 3 major hurricane just before making landfall over western Cuba on Tuesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

State of play: The now-major hurricane continued to strengthen after making landfall in Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, the NHC said in a 4:30am tweet. The storm's outer rain band began on Monday night lashing coastal areas of Florida, where it could hit as a Category 4 hurricane as early as Wednesday.

The eyewall Hurricane Ian was nearing Cuba early Tuesday as Florida was lashed with the outer bands of the Category 2 storm — which the National Hurricane Center warns could rapidly intensify into a Category 4 by midweek.

State of play: Ian was packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph some 85 miles east of the western tip of Cuba at 2am Tuesday — just 1 mph off being classified as a major hurricane. There's a "danger of life-threatening storm surge" along much of the Florida west coast," the NHC said.