'We're running out of time': Miami is turned into a ghost town as Floridians wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic to flee Hurricane Irma's wrath after the storm leveled entire islands and killed at least 18 in the Caribbean
- Meteorologists are now predicting that Miami will bear the brunt of Hurricane Irma when it hits the mainland
- Millions are hitting the roads to get out of the eye of the storm, expected to make landfall Sunday morning in South Florida, with winds and storm surge as early as Saturday night
- The entire southern tip of Florida is under evacuation, and the orders continue county by county all the way up the east coast of the state
- The governor of Georgia has also ordered an evacuation of the state's coastal areas, including Savannah
- The storm has the potential to do $125billion worth of damage when it strikes Miami - and possibly much more
- Category 4 storm has caused devastation in the Caribbean, killing at least 18 and leveling entire islands
- Extensive damage has been reported on Barbuda and St Martin, with over 90 per cent of buildings wrecked
- The storm is currently battering the northeastern coast of Cuba
Miami is now in the 'worst possible position' as Hurricane Irma heads for the U.S. mainland.
With the storm barreling toward the southern tip of Florida for perhaps a catastrophic blow this weekend, the U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast reported that the most likely path of the eye of the storm had shifted and that it could hit Florida earlier than expected.
The center said it had become likely that Irma will make landfall late Saturday in southern Florida as a dangerous major hurricane and bring 'life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts' to much of the state.
'It looks like it's shifting, even though it may be just 20 miles, it puts Miami right in the worst possible position,' CNN meteorologist Tom Sater said.
'Because when you look at the formidable storm, the strongest winds, the strongest storm surge, the bands of heavy rain are always in that north, northeastern quadrant.'
Just before 5am ET Friday, the hurricane was centered about 55 miles northwest of Great Inagua Island and 495 miles southeast of Miami.
Irma weakened from a Category 5 storm to Category 4 on Friday morning with maximum sustained winds near 155 mph, but it remained a powerful hurricane and it could intensify again as it enters warmer than normal waters around Florida. Irma's core is expected to hit Florida early Sunday morning, but its tropical force storm winds can arrive as early as Saturday morning.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued hurricane warnings for South Florida and the Keys late Thursday night as Irma tracks toward the state. A storm surge has also been issued for the same area.
Evacuation orders are in effect for the southern tip of Florida almost all the way up the east coast and for the Georgia coast.
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Florida residents flee Hurricane Irma as traffic backs up on I-75 at its intersection with the Florida Turnpike on Thursday
Customers buy supplies and wood to secure their property in preparation of Hurricane Irma early Friday in Miami, Florida
St Johns County, Florida residents wait for the arrival of sandbags at Mills Field early Friday morning in Jacksonville, Florida
A message to Hurricane Irma is written on the facade of a boarded restaurant on Friday in Miami Beach, Florida
A person stands on a lifeguard stand at an empty South Beach on Friday in Miami Beach, Florida
Abby Jenkins walks with her suitcase on Miami Beach, Florida, before evacuating inland on Friday
Boarded up buildings on normally bustling South Beach are shown on Friday, in Miami Beach, Florida
In this NOAA handout image, NOAA's GOES satellite shows Hurricane Irma as it moves towards the Florida Coast as a category 4 storm in the Caribbean Sea taken at 10:45am ET on Friday
In this geocolor image GOES-16 satellite image taken on Friday, Hurricane Irma, center, approaches Cuba and Florida, with Hurricane Katia, left, in the Gulf of Mexico, and Hurricane Jose, right, in the Atlantic Ocean
A photo of Hurricane Irma on Thursday, taken by NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik on the International Space Station.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been pleading with his citizens all week to evacuate if they are ordered to, and to prepare - no matter the direction of the storm.
At a Friday morning press conference, his message grew even more dire.
'We're running out of time. The storm is almost here. If you are in an evacuation storm you need to go now,' he said.
He added: 'This is a catastrophic storm that our state has never seen. We can rebuild your home but we can't rebuild your life. Protecting life is our absolute top priority. Our number one priority is protecting everyone's life. Everyone's life is important. No resource or expense will be spared to protect families.'
While current projects show the storm hitting Miami and then going up the state's east coast towards Florida, Scott said that all Floridians needed to prepare because the storm's so large and powerful that it will cause serious winds and storm surge on both coasts.
'It is wider than our entire state and could cause major and life-threatening impacts from coast to coast. Regardless of which coast you live on, be prepared to evacuate,' Scott said.
He ordered all state offices, schools, colleges and universities to close from Friday until Monday to free up space for evacuation shelters and staging. Most school districts and universities had already voluntarily agreed to close due to the looming arrival of Hurricane Irma over the weekend - but many school districts and colleges in north central and northwest Florida had remained open.
More than a half-million people were racing to flee on Thursday and live Google traffic maps showed massive delays on crowded highways stretching from Miami to Savannah. Gas trucks were also brought in with police escorts in a bid to help get residents fueled up so they could evacuate.
'Floridians are strong and resilient. In times like this we band together and help each other. We will continue working around the clock to help you prepare and after the storm we'll be here to lift each other up and recover. We will make it through this together. Florida is an amazing melting pot of loving people,' Scott said.
Normally quick trips turned into daylong journeys for Floridians on crowded highways amid a constant search for gasoline and lodging.
Airline seats out of Florida were in short supply as well but American, United and Delta all said Thursday that they were adding extra flights in the next couple days.
An armed man caused extra panic and delays at Miami airport on Thursday night after he was shot by police - prompting the evacuation of an entire terminal.
Evacuation orders are multiplying by the hour in Florida. Currently the entire southern tip of Florida is under evacuation, and those orders continue county by county almost all the way up the east coast.
Officials say that more evacuations could be called as Irma draws closer.
On Thursday, the governor of Georgia also ordered the evacuation of the state's coastal areas, including the large city of Savannah. The last time Georgia was struck by a hurricane of force Category 3 or higher happened in 1898.
As additional evacuations continue to be announced, Irma could potentially create one of the largest mass exoduses in the country's history.
Forecasters warn the storm could hit anywhere from Florida to North Carolina over the next few days. The most severe impacts will be felt on the eastern side of Florida, including Miami, West Palm Beach, Melbourne, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville.
AccuWeather founder, Dr Joel N Myers, said there was no way the U.S. was going to avoid another catastrophic weather event.
'There will be massive damage in Florida. (It will be) the worst single hurricane to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992,' he said said. 'It's a monster hurricane out there - it's bringing along with it something to be feared.'
According to Credit Suisse, the storm has the potential to do $125billion worth of damage.
As people along the Atlantic coast anxiously watched the behemoth, Irma battered the northern Caribbean, killing at least 18 people and leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees.
Mari and Neal Michaud loaded their two children and dog into their small sport-utility vehicle and left their home near Cocoa Beach about 10am, bound for an impromptu vacation in Washington, D.C.
Using a phone app and calls to search for fuel along the way, they finally arrived at a convenience store that had gasoline nearly five hours later. They said the 60-mile trip up Interstate 95 should have taken an hour.
'There was no gas and it's gridlock. People are stranded on the sides of the highway,' Mari said. 'It's 92 degrees out and little kids are out on the grass on the side of the road. No one can help them.'
Noel Marsden said he, his girlfriend, her son and their dog left Pembroke Pines north of Miami with plans to ride out Irma in Savannah, only to find the city was also shutting down because of Irma. Marsden isn't sure where they'll all end up.
With the storm barreling toward Florida for perhaps a catastrophic blow this weekend, live Google traffic maps on Thursday showed massive delays on crowded highways as people tried to flee
The map on the left shows the evacuation zone on the Georgia coast. The map on the right shows evacuation zones in Miami
Above, evacuation maps for Palm Beach County (left) and Broward County (right)
'I've got a buddy in Atlanta and a buddy in Charlotte. We'll wind up one of those two places because there are not hotels, I can tell you that,' he said.
Two dozen enormous construction cranes in Miami are causing concerns for city officials. They have told people who live in the shadows of the giant devices to leave because the cranes were not designed to withstand a storm of Irma's ferocity.
Construction sites across Irma's potential path in Florida are being locked down to prevent building materials, tools and debris from becoming flying missiles in hurricane winds. The horizontal arms of the tall tower cranes, however, will remain loose despite the potential danger of collapse. City officials say they cannot be tied down or moved. Miami officials say it would take two weeks to move the cranes.
NASA has secured Kennedy Space Center and SpaceX launched an unmanned rocket for an experimental flight. Kennedy closed its doors to all nonessential staff and a crew of about 120 people will ride out the storm on site.
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