WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Hurricane Irma is assumed to hit the entire US state of Florida and residents should evacuate when the authorities issue such orders, Governor Rick Scott said in a press conference on Wednesday.
"A storm of this size could have effects statewide and everyone must be prepared," Scott stated. "There's absolutely no reason for anyone to not evacuate if you're ordered to do so."
The governor said the evacuation orders will be given in timely manner in order to avoid traffic delays.
Meanwhile, after the Hurricane Harvey, which hit the US state of Texas as a Category 4 storm last week in what turned out to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history, Irma was upgraded to a Category 5 storm on Tuesday with winds in excess of 180 miles per hour.