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Hurricane Irma: Watch live as the storm lashes Florida

The storm threatens the Tampa area with a direct hurricane hit for the first time in nearly a century

By

(Updated Sunday morning)

Hurricane Irma has arrived in Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm, with sustained winds more than 215 km/h.

On Sunday at around 7 a.m. the storm was roughly 25 km southwest off the coast of Key West, Florida, and moving northwest at 13 km/h. evening strong winds and heavy rain were already buffeting Miami.

Irma led to an evacuation order for one-quarter of the population of the state, as well as hundreds of thousands of people on the Georgia coast. Some individuals in Florida have set up webcams broadcasting the storm as it passes…

In Miami:

Fort Lauderdale:

Palm Beach:

Jacksonville Beach on Florida’s east coast:

MORE: Hurricane Irma’s assault on Florida has begun

Others have uploaded footage onto social media.

This video from the U.S. Virgin Islands shows the devastation left behind by Irma.

Images of Irma from the NOAA Satellite and Information Service:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/11L/imagery/rb-animated.gif

Officials urged people to leave as the storm barrelled toward the U.S. on Saturday. “This is your last chance to make a good decision,” said Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Images from Florida on Saturday afternoon showed gusting winds and empty streets after evacuations.

MORE ABOUT HURRICANE IRMA:

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