Hurricane Irma: Florida residents defy evacuation warning to hit the beach
HURRICANE Irma's threat of devastation has not stopped defiant Jacksonville residents from enjoying a day at the beach despite repeated evacuation orders.
Florida residents brave beach despite Hurricane Irma threat
The threat of Hurricane Irma striking has not stopped defiant Floridians from enjoying a sunny day at the beach despite the state declaring a state of emergency.
As the Irma threat progressed, Florida Governor Rick Scott issued several evacuation warnings but none were mandatory.
Hurricane Irma, the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever recorded, is set to smash through Florida after it reaches landfall in Miami on Saturday, according to the latest NOAA National Hurricane Center (NHC) path updates.
Hurricane Irma update: Jacksonville residents continue to hit the beach despite storm threat
The latest NOAA update has Hurricane Irma moving just north of Cuba as it travels toward Miami, where it is expected to make landfall on early Sunday.
The NHC has issued a hurricane and storm surge warning for all of South Florida and the Florida Keys.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington have warned Florida residents to evacuate coastal areas as fears grow of life-threatening storm surges.
FEMA said: “Nobody in Florida I know has ever experienced a Category 4 or 5 storm making landfall.
Family spend day on Miami beach before Hurricane Irma hits
According to the latest Hurricane Irma path update from the NOAA NHC, the storm is now Category 4 but remains “extremely dangerous”.
The latest storm track map shows Hurricane Irma set to hit on Saturday night before tracking up towards Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.
The NOAA added: "Irma is an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane and will continue to bring life-threatening wind, storm surge and rainfall hazards to the Turks and Caicos islands and the Bahamas through Saturday.
"Heavy rainfall is still possible across portions of Hispaniola through today. Hurricane conditions will also spread over portions of the north coast of Cuba, especially over the adjacent Cuban Keys through Saturday.”