nowhere will be safe': Florida warning ahead of Hurricane Irma

The disaster facing Florida as Hurricane Irma rolls in has been painted in the starkest terms yet.

In a final warning to anyone who has not obeyed evacuation orders, the National Weather Service in Key West said: "This is as real as it gets. Nowhere will be safe."

Earlier, an emergency response chief warned Irma will "devastate" part of the United States.

The hurricane , the most powerful Atlantic storm ever recorded, has killed at least 19 people so far after battering islands in the Caribbean.

The storm could yet regain more strength and hit the Florida Keys as a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour.

The United States has experienced only three Category 5 storms since 1851, and Irma is far larger than the last one to hit the United States in 1992, Hurricane Andrew.

Hurricane Irma is the most powerful storm ever to form in the Atlantic(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

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WATCH: DONALD TRUMP STATEMENT AS FLORIDA BRACES FOR HURRICANE IRMA

Measuring around 400 miles across, Irma is roughly the size of France.

Virgin boss Richard Branson was among those caught up in the chaos as the storm "completely and utterly devastated" his luxurious Necker Island home.

Today, the former-Category 5 hurricane menaced Cuba and the southeastern Bahamas. It is set to pummel Florida as early as tomorrow night.

The usually thriving city of Miami has become a 'ghost town', as tourists and residents have fled in anticipation of the destructive storm.

Shops in the metropolis are either boarded up or have little left on their shelves, streets are deserted and sandy, white beaches lie empty.

Florida residents flee Hurricane Irma as traffic backs up on I-75 at its intersection with the Florida Turnpike (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Locals wait to leave Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as the powerful storm approaches (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Two men install wood over the windows of a home at the Sunnyside Trailer Park during preparations for the hurricane (Image: AFP)

The hurricane, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, has killed at least 19 people so far (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

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Florida Governor Rick Scott issued a stark warning to residents to get out if they were in evacuation zones, saying: "We are running out of time."

"If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now. This is a catastrophic storm like our state has never seen," Mr Scott told reporters.

He added that the storm's effects would be felt from coast to coast.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, warned on Twitter today that the hurricane was "of epic proportion" and "perhaps bigger than we have ever seen".

"Be safe and get out of its way,if possible. Federal G is ready!" he posted.

He later uploaded a videotaped statement, saying the hurricane has "absolutely historic destructive potential" and urging people in its path to stay vigilant.

"This is a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential," Mr Trump said.