People Are Already Evacuating Florida as Irma Pounds the Caribbean

As Hurricane Irma roars across the Caribbean, people have begun to leave the Florida Keys amid fears the storm will reach the US coast. Officials in Florida began mandatory evacuations Wednesday as the "potentially catastrophic" hurricane batters the northern Leeward Islands—and if that wasn't enough to contend with, another weather system directly behind Irma is now forecast to become a hurricane later on Wednesday.

Hurricane Irma is already the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, generating winds of up to 185 miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center described the latest storm to threaten the US mainland as "potentially catastrophic," and predicted that it's likely to make landfall somewhere in Florida over the weekend. It said "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion." The hurricane has already begun hitting islands in the Caribbean, with the northern Leeward Islands first to be hit Wednesday morning. The hurricane is then predicted to hit the Virgin Islands later in the day and tracking close to Puerto Rico Wednesday night. Continue reading on VICE News.