Hurricane Irma will devastate part of the US and officials are preparing a massive response to the storm, the head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency says.
With Irma set to hit Florida at the weekend, FEMA Administrator Brock Long warned at a news conference that parts of Florida would be out of electricity for days, if not longer, and more than 100,000 people might need shelter.
"Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the southeastern states," Long said on Friday.
Irma had been a category-five hurricane before being downgraded to category-four early on Friday after pummelling islands in the Caribbean.
The US had experienced only three category-five storms since 1851 and Irma was far larger than the last one to hit the US in 1994, Hurricane Andrew, Long said.
He warned people not to ignore evacuation orders.
Officials had thousands of personnel ready to respond and millions of meals and liters of water in place nearby, Long said.
The National Weather Service said Friday was the last day to leave before winds would start to hit unsafe speeds in Florida.
