Hurricane Irma is expected to make landfall in the United States on Friday, striking either Miami or any other east coast city along the Florida coast. Nearly 95 percent of the Atlantic Island of Barbuda was destroyed during the storm when it made landfall Wednesday afternoon. The Prime Minister said on social media that 100 percent of all homes on the island were completely destroyed. Although the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico was spared, Turks and Caicos is predicted to be impacted directly by this storm later today. In other words, the powerful eye of the hurricane will cross over the island’s small land mass.

Preparations for the Hurricane are underway in Florida where many areas have been issued mandatory evacuations according to their storm surge zones. Already, many supplies have run out in southern Florida, including plywood, gasoline, water, and sand which are essential for civilians to withstand a storm of this magnitude. Currently, winds are sustained at 185 MPH and the pressure in the storm is 916. The storm will strike southern Florida at Category 4 or 5 strength which is unprecedented and has not been experienced by these residents for several decades. The tornado threat is also worrisome on the Florida peninsula as well as in Georgia and South Carolina where the storm is expected to make a second landfall.

The governors of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina have declared state of emergencies for coastal and inland counties. The storm is expected to leave parts of Florida uninhabitable for several weeks and months. The latest track will be updated this evening at 5:00 PM EST.