As traders contemplated severe damage in Florida from Hurricane Ian, natural gas futures declined early Thursday ahead of the latest round of government inventory data. The November Nymex contract was off 16.3 cents to $6.792/MMBtu as of around 8:55 a.m. ET.

After carving a devastating path through Florida, causing severe flooding and reportedly leaving millions without power, Ian had been downgraded to tropical storm status as of early Thursday.

As of 8 a.m. ET, Ian was about 40 miles east of Orlando, FL, and carrying maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

“On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to move off the east-central coast of Florida soon and then approach the coast of South Carolina on Friday,” the NHC said....