Bucs bound for Miami as Hurricane Ian strengthens threatens Tampa; Chiefs showdown on schedule for now

 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving south as Hurricane Ian intensifies and threatens Central Florida. Sunday's home showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs remains on schedule, for now.

Head coach Todd Bowles told reporters on Monday that the team is in contact with the NFL to work on a contingency plan in the event Tampa is unable to host the game slated for "Sunday Night Football."

“Right now we’re still monitoring things, but we’re working things out with the league and we should have a decision hopefully later on (Monday) about what we’re going to do,” Bowles said.

 In The  meantime, the Bucs plan to move operations to Miami on Tuesday, when they will make use of Dolphins facilities, including their practice field and weight room. The Dolphins are on the road this week for a Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Miami's expected to experience storm conditions but is projected to miss the brunt of Ian's impact.

Ian projected to strengthen to Category 4 storm, threaten Tampa

As of Monday afternoon, Ian sat off the southeast coast of Cuba and intensified to a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds up to 100 mph. Forecasts project Ian to intensify to a Category 3 storm before making landfall on the western tip of Cuba on Tuesday, then further strengthening to a Category 4 storm in the Gulf of Mexico between Cuba and Florida.

 It's then projected to slow its trajectory before making landfall on Florida's west coast late Wednesday or early Thursday. Tampa is under a hurricane warning and remained in the storm's projected landfall cone as of Monday evening.

Ian threatens to deliver high winds and storm surge upon impact on Florida's west coast. Yale Climate Connections meteorologist Jeff Masters projected dire consequences for Tampa Bay in a worst-case scenario while speaking with the Tampa Bay Times.

“When I look at this storm I feel like I felt when Andrew was approaching Miami and when Katrina was approaching New Orleans,” Masters said. “We have a potential historic catastrophe in the making.

“You’re talking about a storm surge lasting multiple high tide cycles."