Hurricane Ian made landfall on Floridas southwestern coast Wednesday as one of the strongest storms to ever hit the United States, bringing devastating flooding, wind and rain to the Sunshine State.

With wind speeds of 150 miles per hour, Ian came ashore near Cayo Costa, a barrier island west of Fort Myers, as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, the National Hurricane Center said.

Boats are left stranded on the shore in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, on September 29, 2022. – Hurricane Ian left much of coastal southwest Florida in darkness early on Thursday, bringing "catastrophic" flooding that left officials readying a huge emergency response to a storm of rare intensity. The National Hurricane Center said the eye of the "extremely dangerous" hurricane made landfall just after 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) on the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of the city of Fort Myers. (Photo by GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)

It brought a storm surge a rise in ocean water generated by the storm of up to 12 feet in some areas, according to West Palm Beach television station WPTV. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said it could be one of the worst storms in state history, the network reported.

More than 2.5 million people were without power in central Florida into Thursday morning. Cell service in the Fort Myers area was intermittent after the hurricanes direct hit, the Lee County Sheriffs Office said on Facebook early Thursday, as emergency crews labored to reach residents trapped by the flood waters.

Zuram Rodriguez surveys the damage around her mobile home in Davie, Fla., early Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified off Florida's southwest coast Wednesday morning, gaining top winds of 155 mph (250 kph), just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) AP

The aftermath of this storm is catastrophic, the sheriffs department, which covers the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area, reported. The Associated Press said the storm was the fifth-strongest hurricane, when measured by wind speed, ever to strike the U.S.

Below, see more images of the powerful storm as it approached Florida and made landfall Wednesday, and of the rescue efforts underway as authorities and residents take stock of the devastation.73

Hurricane Ian