Video shows man rescue cat trapped in Hurricane Ian's storm surge

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. - A man braved surging floodwaters to rescue a stranded cat as Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida Wednesday.

Video from Mary Beth Ross in Bonita Springs, Florida, shows the man carefully approach the cat and gently carry it to safety.

Hurricane Ian struck Florida as a catastrophic Category 4 storm. Ian’s strength at landfall — with 150 mph winds — ties it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to strike the U.S. A stretch of the Gulf Coast remained under ocean water Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center said Ian became a tropical storm over land early Thursday and was expected to regain near-hurricane strength after emerging over Atlantic waters near the Kennedy Space Center later in the day, with South Carolina in its sights for a second U.S. landfall.

READ MORE: Hurricane Ian death toll in Florida uncertain as South Carolina braces for 2nd landfall

Up to a foot of rain is forecast for parts of Northeast Florida, coastal Georgia and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. As much as 6 inches (could fall in southern Virginia as the storm moves inland over the Carolinas, and the center said landslides were possible in the southern Appalachian mountains.

Click here for more storm updates from FOX 35 Orlando.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.