America News Agency

Warm sea temperatures in the Gulf off the Florida coast meant the storm, already classified as severe, was rapidly strengthening. By early evening local time, it had been upgraded to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane.

At the time, the tropical cyclone had winds of more than 210 kilometres per hour.

President Biden said shortly before the storm made landfall that we were expecting catastrophic storms, winds and flooding in the country's southeastern part, currently starting in Florida.

At the same time, he and Vice President Kamala Harris urged everyone to "take the storm very seriously."

Residents in many parts of Florida were asked to evacuate their homes, but many did not want to leave.

The director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Michael Brennan, later made a similar announcement as tidal waves of up to 20 feet (6 meters) were expected to reach parts of Florida.

In addition to evacuations across much of Florida, roads, bridges and schools were also closed, and a state of emergency was declared across much of Florida and parts of Georgia.

As of Thursday evening local time, more than 300,000 people were powerless. That number is expected to grow as the hurricane moves inland.

According to local officials, the hurricane is expected to hit Friday morning ET, so Florida residents are advised to shelter inside buildings as much as possible.

"Think of these warnings as tornado warnings and stay indoors as much as possible, put as much of the storm between you and the area as possible, and stay away from windows," the National Weather Service said.

At least one person died Thursday evening when a person's car hit a road sign, according to NCB News.