Hurricane and storm surge warnings have been issued for South Florida as Hurricane Irma advances westward in the Caribbean, with a northward turn toward Florida expected heading into the weekend.

The warnings came 3pm this afternoon in the latest update from the Atlantic National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane center said that Irma is 941km east‑southeast of Miami with win gusts of 266km/h and the storm was moving at about 26km/h.

Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez (He-mene) expanded evacuation orders Thursday to the county’s coast and other inland areas as Hurricane Irma threatened to bring severe flooding to South Florida.

Gimenez’s order also covers many of its flat land area as a rapid escalation of Miami’s efforts to get residents to flee areas considered most vulnerable to dangerous storm surge.

Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a $7.85 billion aid package for Hurricane Harvey victims.

Once the damage from the massive storm and record‑breaking flooding are fully assessed, another request for federal aid is expected to top $100 billion.

Source: Foxnews