INDIANAPOLIS — Hurricane Ian made landfall in western Cuba early Tuesday morning and is on its trek toward Florida. While the Sunshine State prepares for the hurricane to make landfall, hundreds of Red Cross volunteers and staff are setting up evacuation shelters, including volunteers from Indiana.
Five Red Cross volunteers from Indiana are set up on the eastern part of Florida, in the Orlando area.
The Red Cross said they will be in this area before, during and after Hurricane Ian moves through.
13News spoke to Michael Zukunf, a Hoosier who's been volunteering with the Red Cross for 33 years. He said 318 Red Cross volunteers and staff are in Florida, the majority of them in the Orlando area, which is the evacuation area for residents who live in the western part of the state.
As the Red Cross waits for the eye of the hurricane to make way over Florida sometime Wednesday or Thursday, they're continuing to bring in equipment to help set up shelters with cots and bathrooms for families to use.
They're also bringing emergency vehicles so that when the hurricane passes, they'll be able to go out in communities and help families in need.
"These are mobile feeding vehicles so that we can go out and provide meals to people in affected communities, and we'll also be feeding people in the shelters after the storm has passed," Zukunf said. "So, we have lots of material resources, as well as the human resources, that we need to provide these services."
Throughout Florida, some schools are closed, and the military will begin moving ships and aircrafts out of the area Tuesday.
Tampa International Airport will be suspending all operations at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Disney World also announced some temporary resort closures starting Wednesday.
Click here if you would like to donate to the Red Cross and their disaster relief efforts.