The storm is now packing sustained winds of 155 mph with gusts as high as 190 mph, and it could wreak havoc for Florida after it hits the Turks and Caicos Islands today and then heads to the Bahamas.

At least 13 people in the Caribbean have been killed already.

As Irma moves within striking distance of south Florida, Gov. Rick Scott is warning people to follow evacuation orders.

Scott is stressing the powerful storm could be an historic disaster.

"Remember Hurricane Andrew is one of the worst storms in the history of Florida. This storm is much worse," Scott said.

And Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long has this advice for people in Irma's path: "Get out" now!   

Irma is likely to move up along the east coast of Florida, with a potential threat to Georgia and the Carolinas, after doing serious damage throughout islands in the Caribbean.

Irma is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean.

With 185-175 mile per hour winds, it devastated small northern Caribbean islands like Saint Martin and Barbuda ...

Gaston Brown, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said the country has been decimated.

"It was the worst time in all my life. I would not like to see a hurricane like this again," one island resident said.

"We were praying the whole time," one island visitor said, standing next to her injured friend in the hospital.

In Puerto Rico, Irma left nearly a million people without power and it could be four to six months in some areas before it's restored.

And here in the U.S., the National Weather Service warns that some "locations hit by Irma could be uninhabitable for weeks or months" due to powerful winds, and that "structural damage to buildings, with many washing away" is possible in some coastal areas.

Major preparations are underway along the East Coast. In addition to Florida, the governors of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina have declared states of emergency.

Residents are boarding up homes, grabbing dwindling supplies of bottled water, and battling fuel shortages seeking to get out of harm’s way.

"There's no gas, there's no water at the grocery stores. They have security guards and police at Home Depot, the waiting for plywood down there, it's crazy," one North Carolina woman said.

But Florida is the main state in Irma's path where huge numbers of people are evacuating and getting ready for the monster storm.

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