Hurricane Irma strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm on Monday, prompting both Florida and Puerto Rico to declare states of emergency as they brace for a potential direct impact.

Winds topped 130 mph as Irma swirled in the Atlantic — and “a landfall in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas is all in the realm of possibilities,’’ said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Evan Myers.

“This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast,” he said. “It also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of Harvey.”

Puerto Rico was first to declare a state of emergency Monday, as the National Hurricane Center forecast that the storm would strike the US territory Wednesday.

Florida followed suit a short time later.

A hurricane watch was in effect for the British and US Virgin Islands, with Irma expected to arrive in their vicinity mid-week.

And a string of the Leeward Islands — Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Monserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and St. Barts — were issued hurricane warnings, which advise officials to rush storm preparations.

The hurricane center also advised the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas to monitor the progress of Irma.

It predicted that the eye of the storm would pass over or near the Leeward Islands by Tuesday with a potential to cause “life-threatening surf and rip current condition.”

Irma was on course to head north toward the US mainland, potentially making landfall either next weekend or sometime early next week, meteorologists predict.

Relief agencies still scrambling in the wake of Hurricane Harvey were bracing for the additional strain of yet another disaster.

Officials say resources would be shifted, depending on Irma’s path.

Harvey is so far believed to have claimed some 60 lives since hitting Texas and Louisiana and caused up to $180 billion in damage.

“We put a hold on sending volunteers from the Mid-Atlantic states” to Texas in case Irma strikes the US mainland, Red Cross Regional Executive Officer Barry Porter told CBS affiliate WNCN-TV.

“There [are] still a lot of other states to send volunteers from, but because of this pending threat, we’ve asked those volunteers to hold, update their records and help us here in the Carolinas if we need them.

“With this East Coast threat of Irma coming late this week, we’re really concerned,” Porter said.

Were Irma to hit the East Coast as a Category 4 or 5 storm, experts noted it would be a historic event.

“The US has not sustained a direct hit from two Category 4 or above hurricanes in more than 100 years,” Myers said.

With Wire Services