Irma lashed the area with maximum sustained winds near 215 kmph and was expected to remain a powerful storm as it moved through the Florida Keys.

Hurricane Irma began its assault on Florida early on September 10 with the storm’s northern eyewall reaching the lower Florida Keys as a powerful Category 4 storm. Irma lashed the area with maximum sustained winds near 215 kmph and the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said it was expected to remain a powerful storm as it moved through the Florida Keys and near the State’s west coast.

As of 8 a.m. EDT (5.30 p.m IST) on September 10, the hurricane was centered about 30 km east-southeast of Key West, Florida, and was moving north-northwest at 13 kmph. The Key West International Airport measured sustained winds of 80 kmph with a gust of up to 113 kmph, according to the hurricane centre.

The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for a wide swath of Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward counties in South Florida. The band of rain and tornado producing cells was moving quickly, officials said. There were no immediate reports of tornadoes touching down.

Tens of thousands of people huddling in shelters watched for updates.

In the Tampa Bay area, access to all of Pinellas County’s barrier islands, including the popular spring break destination of Clearwater Beach, was shut off.

The leading edge of the immense storm bent palm trees and spit rain across South Florida, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, as the eye approached Key West.

As the hurricane’s eye approached the Florida Keys early on September 10, 60-year-old Carol Walterson Stroud and her family were huddled in a third floor apartment at a senior centre in Key West. “We are good so far,” she said in a text message just before 5.30 a.m. EDT. “It’s blowing hard.” Ms. Stroud was with her husband, Tim Stroud, and granddaughter, Sierra Costello. Their dog Rocky was also riding out the storm.

Ms. Stroud said she planned to step outside once the eye of the hurricane passed over. She said she has stood in the eye of a hurricane before and it’s “total peace and quiet”.

Florida Governor Rick Scott had warned residents in the State’s evacuation zones on September 9 that “this is your last chance to make a good decision”. About 6.4 million people were told to flee.

But because the storm is about 560 km to 640 km wide, the entire Florida peninsula was exposed. Forecasters said the greater Miami area of 6 million people could still get life-threatening hurricane winds and storm surge of 4 to 6 feet.

Irma was at one time the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the open Atlantic with a peak wind speed of 300 kmph last week. It left more than 20 people dead across the Caribbean and as it moved north over the Gulf of Mexico’s bathtub-warm water, it was expected to regain strength.

Meteorologists predicted Irma would plough into the Tampa Bay area on September 11 morning. The area has not been struck by a major hurricane since 1921, when its population was about 10,000, National Hurricane Centre spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Now around 3 million people live there.

The latest course also still threatens Naples’ mansion- and yacht-lined canals, Sun City Centre’s retirement homes, and Sanibel Island’s shell-filled beaches.