Hurricane Irma Hits Florida Keys as Category 4 Storm With 130 MPH Winds

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, September 10, 2017

Heavy wind is seen along Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami, Florida, September 10, 2017. | (Phto: Reuters/Carlos Barria)

Water rises up to a sidewalk by the Miami river as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida, in downtown Miami, Florida, September 10, 2017. | (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria)

Boats are seen at a marina in South Beach, Miami, September 10, 2017. | (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria)

A lifeguard hut is pictured as Hurricane Irma arrives in Hollywood, Florida, September 10, 2017. | (Photo: Reuters/Carlo Allegri)

A fallen tree blocks Biscayne Blvd. as Hurricane Irma arrives in Hollywood, Florida. | (Photo: Reuters/Carlo Allegri)

Dark clouds are seen over Miami's skyline before the arrival of Hurricane Irma to south Florida, U.S. September 9, 2017. | (Photo: Reuteres/Carlos Barria)

A tornado is seen from Fort Lauderdale beach, Florida, U.S., September 9, 2017, in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. | (Photo: Twitter/Karina Bauza/via Reuters)

General view of damage following Hurricane Irma hitting Sint Maarten, the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin September 6, 2017 in this image taken from social media. | (Photo: Reuters)

A car drives along an empty highway in Miami before the arrival of Hurricane Irma to south Florida, September 9, 2017. | (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria)

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Hurricane Irma, a Category 4 hurricane and the strongest to hit the Florida Keys in nearly six decades, was making landfall in the Sunshine State early Sunday, threatening catastrophic damage with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. More than 6.5 million residents in Florida and over 540,000 people in the Georgia coast were told to leave their homes.

Life-threatening storm surge is likely from the South Santee River southward to the Jupiter Inlet and on the peninsula from North Miami Beach to the Ochlockonee River, including the Florida Keys and Tampa Bay, according to the National Weather Service.

The center of the storm was moving northwest at about 8 mph at 8 a.m. Sunday.

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Hurricane #Irma fluctuates to a category 3 hurricane via the latest @NHC_Atlantic update. Recent gust to 103 mph in Naples, FL #FLwxpic.twitter.com/lXlqNovaHX

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) September 10, 2017

Over 300,000 people in the state were without power Sunday morning even as destructive winds, flooding rain and inundating seas are likely to occur across Florida into Monday.

After raking through the Keys, the storm is expected to strike southwest Florida with Category 4 intensity Sunday, according to The Weather Channel.

Yikes, Hollywood. Fl., home on fire. Too windy for FDP to respond. #Irmapic.twitter.com/av26VShP3j

— caseyfrank1 (@caseyfrank1) September 10, 2017

Florida officials have asked over 6.5 million residents to evacuate, one of the largest emergency evacuations in the country's history, and Gov. Rick Scott has warned that it's "a deadly storm and our state has never seen anything like it," and that "once the storm starts, law enforcement cannot save you."

Irma was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane at 2 a.m. The storm could expose St. Petersburg to a direct hit, according to The New York Times.

Neither St. Petersburg nor Tampa, which was earlier expected to be directly hit, has taken a head-on blow from a major hurricane in nearly a century, according to The Associated Press.

At least 25 people have died in the Caribbean due to Irma.

"Unfortunately, there is no way the United States is going to avoid another catastrophic weather event," AccuWeather President Joel N. Myers said. "There will be massive damage in Florida. [It will be] the worst single hurricane to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992."

An extensive area of heavy rainbands had already formed well north of the center of Irma over much of the Florida Peninsula, The Weather Channel reported, and said more than 10 inches of rain had already triggered flooding that shut down a stretch of U.S. 1 in Ft. Pierce, Florida, with water reportedly into at least one home.