As Hurricane Ian continues its destructive path across Florida,

As Hurricane Ian continues its destructive path across Florida, it blasts the state, cutting out electricity and trapping citizens.

Authorities are responding to rescue requests from all throughout the state as Hurricane Ian continues to batter Florida, keeping citizens inside their houses and leaving millions without power in what is already being referred to as a "life-changing disaster." 911 phone centers are also being overloaded.

As one of the fiercest hurricanes to make landfall on Florida's west coast, Ian crashed into southwestern Florida near Cayo Costa on Wednesday afternoon. As it pushed closer inland, Ian pounded the state with devastating 150 mph gusts and sent surging ocean water ashore.

According to PowerOutage.us, as of early Thursday, more than 2 million people were without power due to the enormous storm, which also caused trees to be uprooted, sent automobiles floating down the streets, and flooded roads and homes.

Authorities reported severe rain and flooding early on Thursday morning in the Orlando metropolitan region, where 8 to 12 inches of rain had already fallen and up to 4 more inches of rain were forecast.

Since then, the storm has fallen to a Category 1 hurricane and is now slowly making its way toward the east coast while dropping a lot of rain on low-lying regions in central Florida.

Here are the most recent changes:

Early on Thursday, crews evaluating the damage in the city noted floods, downed electrical lines, power poles in the streets, broken traffic signals, crippled cars, and fallen structures.

Thomas Podgorny, a resident of Fort Myers, told CNN that he and three other people were stuck in their two-story house as they watched cars float away outside and worried about their non-evacuating neighbors.

"I misplaced my home. "My bottom floor is leaking gas and water," Podgorny claimed. In their one-story home, my neighbors had very little room for breathing.

When the ceiling of their Fort Myers house collapsed and water poured inside, the couple claimed they were trapped.

Early on Thursday, crews evaluating the damage in the city noted floods, downed electrical lines, power poles in the streets, broken traffic signals, crippled cars, and fallen structures.

Thomas Podgorny, a resident of Fort Myers, told CNN that he and three other people were stuck in their two-story house as they watched cars float away outside and worried about their non-evacuating neighbors.

"I misplaced my home. "My bottom floor is leaking gas and water," Podgorny claimed. In their one-story home, my neighbors had very little room for breathing.

When the ceiling of their Fort Myers house collapsed and water poured inside, the couple claimed they were trapped.

Collier County residents who were also without electricity and confined to their houses made distress calls.

"Some people are experiencing medical crises in deep water that are life threatening. We shall begin with them. Some people claim that water is entering their homes, although it is not life threatening. They'll have to hold out. Possibly until the water recedes," according to a statement from the Collier County Sheriff's Office.

Further complicating matters, Chief Stephanie Spell said CNN, was the fact that Lee County's 911 system was down and calls were being diverted to Collier County. At this moment, water rescues make up the bulk of Spell's 911 calls.

In some areas, the weather was too bad for emergency personnel to be on the scene.

According to Patrick Fuller, the county's emergency management director, emergency services in Charlotte County were unable to respond to 911 calls on Wednesday due to hazardous storm conditions.

According to Mayor Eric Arroyo, officials in Sarasota decided to remove all police officers from the streets on Wednesday because of the high winds and dangerous weather.

Authorities in Tampa and Orange County issued a warning to citizens that the worst of Hurricane Ian was still to come Wednesday night as rescue operations got underway in other regions Wednesday evening.

While the severe weather persisted, curfews were in place for residents of Collier, Lee, and Charlotte counties.

Florida is already being affected by a "life-changing" monster hurricane.

Officials were well aware of the severity of the devastation and the length of the recovery process before the hurricane ever made landfall.

"Ian will have a profound impact on people's lives. "This is a very strong, catastrophic storm that will do considerable damage," said Eric Silagy, president and chief executive officer of Florida Power & Light.

According to Silagy, there will be certain infrastructural components that personnel won't be able to fix and will need to be reconstructed, which can take weeks.

Backup water pumps aren't working, according to Jennifer Dexter, a Fort Myers Beach municipal spokesman, who talked to CNN.

Dexter added, "That tells you how catastrophic it is when the backup water pump system fails.

According to county officials, Lee County Utilities issued a system-wide boil water advisory for all customers effective immediately due to the hurricane's effects. Pasco County residents were also instructed to boil their tap water when a water main burst and the area's water distribution system lost pressure.

Due to the system's effect from power outages in Manatee County, homeowners were instructed to restrict flushing, bathing, washing dishes, and doing laundry.

According to Ryan Lamb, the city's fire chief and emergency management director, Cape Coral officials were receiving reports of substantial structural damage around the city.

According to a news release from his office, DeSantis has asked President Joe Biden to authorize a major disaster designation for all 67 counties in the state. DeSantis is also asking Biden to give FEMA the power to cover 100% of the government cost share for cleanup and emergency safety measures for the first 60 days following Ian's landfall.

Where Ian will go next

Hurricane Ian is anticipated to slowly proceed over Florida's central region after slamming Cuba and hitting the mainland on Thursday afternoon. There, it might intensify once again and make landfall in another US state.

In anticipation of the storm's probable effects, the governors of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina have all proclaimed states of emergency.