A father and his son were among dozens of people to hit the beach in Florida to go surfing, despite warnings from officials to get out of town.

Some residents and tourists ignored the warnings given by officials to evacuate and were spotted on different beaches in the Sunshine State, as some people even got into the dangerous water.

The unidentified father and his young son were recorded by WSVN in Miami carrying their surfboards while sporting swimming gear walking towards the water on the beach.

Moments later, the father, who flashed a smile at the camera, started running towards the water and jumped in with his board as his son followed suit.

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Despite officials urging people to evacuate for Hurricane Matthew, a father and his son (above) were among several people who hit the beach on Thursday in Miami

The unidentified father and boy (above) were recorded in Miami carrying their surfboards while sporting swimming gear walking towards the water on the beach

In addition, a man and a woman were also at the beach taking photos near a lifeguard post on Thursday.

Authorities have continued to warn people to avoid the beach and not to enter the water due to the risk of injury or death.

A state of emergency has been declared in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida as Hurricane Matthew is poised to hit the US within hours.

It's expected to be a catastrophic storm with destructive winds and flooding that hasn't been seen in more than a decade in that area of the East Coast.

Even before the full force of the powerful storm hits, thousands of people have already been left without power in some parts of the sunshine state.

Moments later, the father, who flashed a smile at the camera, started running towards the water and jumped in with his board as his son followed suit (above)

Authorities have continued to warn people to avoid the beach and not to enter the water due to the risk of injury or death. Above people surf in the sea on Thursday in Miami

Florida Power and Light reported that a combined 23,000 customers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have been left without power this afternoon as it warns that 2.5 million statewide will experience outages in the aftermath of the storm.

About 1.5 million people in Florida have been told to flee inland as the dangerous and life-threatening Category Four storm could become a Category Five and siege on the east coast of the state destroying homes and building structures and knocking down trees.

The storm that's packing winds of up to 145mph is expected to hit southeast Florida by Thursday evening through early Friday, as weather forecasters predict it will bring a dangerous storm surge to some parts of the state that will be even worse than what happened in New Jersey during Super Storm Sandy in 2012.

A state of emergency has been declared in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida as Hurricane Matthew is poised to hit the US within hours. Above a man surfs in Miami on Thursday

Destructive winds and flooding is expected to stretch into Georgia and South Carolina moving up the coast by the weekend.

Weather forecasters say the eye of the hurricane may never make landfall, however, the eyewall which contains the strongest winds, may do so.

The only and last Category Four hurricane to make landfall anywhere in northeast Florida or the Georgia coast was in 1898.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott advised on Thursday evening that resident still have time to evacuate, but to do so quickly.

'We are already starting to see the impacts (from Hurricane Matthew), and it's a monster,' Scott said. 'You still have time to leave. Get out. There's no reason to take a chance.'