HURRICANE IRMA is battering Florida and has killed at least four in the sunshine state.
Some FIVE million people are currently without power and Irma has swamped coastal towns with 15ft walls of water.
Irma’s 130mph winds tore through the Florida Keys this morning as storm surges sent the sea gushing through the streets before the hurricane wailed up Florida’s west coast.
US President Donald Trump insisted he will visit Florida very soon and praised emergency officials for their efforts to protect people.
“The bad news is that this is some big monster,” Trump told reporters at the White House, saying damage from the storm would be very costly.
“Right now, we are worried about lives, not cost,” Trump said after returning from Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland where he monitored the storm and met with his cabinet.
The path of the storm, tracking the west coast of Florida, meant it might be less destructive than it would otherwise have been, Trump said, noting the next five or six hours would be critical.
“I hope there aren’t too many people in the path,” he said. “You don’t want to be in that path.”
The killer storm made its second landfall in the sunshine state on Saturday afternoon in Marco Island which is south of the city of Naples.
While residents on Florida’s west coast are bracing themselves for the devastating eye of the hurricane, which could generate 15ft walls of water, the east coast is being threatened by a series of twisters.
Indeed, a “fast-moving tornado” was reportedly seen on the ground at Fort Lauderdale International Airport.
Irma has now been downgraded to a Category Three storm although forecasters warn the deadly hurricane – which has killed at 25 people – remains “powerful” as 6.3 million people have been ordered to leave the state.
Authorities in Miami – which has suffered devastating electrical cuts – have confirmed that two cranes have collapsed into buildings due to the strong winds.
Tampa’s mayor, Bob Buckhorn, delivered a stark warning online for everyone in one of Florida’s most densely populated regions.
Buckhorn has announced a 6pm mandatory curfew.
“We know we are ground zero for this storm. We have avoided it for 90 winds but our time has come to be ready,” he wrote on Twitter.
“We are about to get punched in the face by this storm.”
Buckhorn explained that as the storm truly takes hold, authorities will be paralysed to help.
Irma has been downgraded to a Cat 2 hurricane and is next expected to hit Tampa.
HURRICANE IRMA: SEE THE AMAZING PHOTOS FROM THE STORM OF THE CENTURY