President Donald Trump, discussing incoming Hurricane Irma in the Atlantic Ocean, says that the impacts of the storm will be, "not good."
"We have a lot to discuss, including the fact that there is a new, and seems to be record-breaking hurricane [heading] toward Florida, and Puerto Rico, and other places," Mr Trump said, sitting in the Oval Office. "It looks like it could be something that will be not good. Believe me, not good."
Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, is one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic. The storm hit the Caribbean with record-breaking winds, and was expected to continue on toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba before potentially heading toward Florida this weekend. It is unclear if the storm will directly impact Florida, however several forecasts show it as an increasingly probable scenario.
The storm has already caused officials in Southern Florida to issue advisories, advise evacuations, and close schools and government offices. Shelters are being set up that can house tens of thousands of people during the storm.
The state of Florida is under a state of emergency ahead of the potential landfall of the hurricane, after Governor Rick Scott, eyeing an increasingly slim chance that the storm won't make landfall, took action to save lives.
"There is a small window. If it turns sooner rather than later, we could maybe see the system slide by the East Coast into the ocean, but that window is shutting quickly," CNN meteorologist Tom Sater said Tuesday.
Trajectories posted by the National Hurricane Centre Wednesday showed the southern tip of Florida having roughly an 80 per cent chance of being hit by tropical storm-force winds as a result of Irma.
