Hurricane Hermine has battered Florida’s Gulf Coast with winds of up to 80mph and heavy rains.
The US National Hurricane Center said Hermine – the first hurricane to directly hit Florida in nearly 11 years – made landfall over northwest Florida, east of St Marks.
Florida’s governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency and has warned the hurricane is potentially ‘life-threatening’. He has urged Gulf Coast residents to take precautions immediately.
Hermine is being closely monitored amid fears it could reach wind speeds of 95mph and a state of emergency has now been declared in the east of North Carolina and in Georgia as the storm gets stronger.
Accuweather is warning there a risk of flooding in the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas, 100 miles south of where the storm hit and some areas have suffered power cuts.
There are also warnings of tornadoes in central and northern Florida, with Tampa, Orlando, Ocala, the Villages, Melbourne, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Tallahassee initially at risk, while isolated tornadoes are expected to extend northeastward into parts of Georgia and the Carolinas today.
Sea and surf conditions will be dangerous along the Florida west coast into Friday and along the upper east coast into Saturday.
Hermine is expected to drop back down to a tropical storm before pushing into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast – but still carrying with it the threat of heavy rain and flooding.
"The center should then move near or over eastern South Carolina on Friday night and near or over eastern North Carolina on Saturday," the National Hurricane Center said.
Airlines including American, Delta, United and Southwest Airlines have waived flight change fees while a small number of services were pre-emptively canceled.
