Two million without power as Hurricane Ian turns Florida's streets to rivers

About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate south-west Florida before Ian hit, but by law no one could be forced to flee.

Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the US, has swamped south-west Florida (Willie J Allen Jr/Orlando Sentinel/AP)

Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms recorded in the US, has swamped south-west Florida.

The category 4 storm turned streets into rivers, knocked out power to 1.8 million people and threatened catastrophic damage further inland after it made landfall on Wednesday.