Florida braces for Hurricane Irma amid dire warnings

MIAMI -- Florida residents picked store shelves clean and long lines formed at gas pumps Wednesday as Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 monster with potentially catastrophic winds of 185 mph, steamed toward the Sunshine State and a possible direct hit on the Miami metropolitan area of nearly 6 million people.

The most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic destroyed homes and flooded streets as it roared through a chain of small islands in the northern Caribbean.

Meteorologists said Irma could hit the Miami area by early Sunday, then rake the entire length of the state and push into the Carolinas.

But they warned the forecast this far out contains a large degree of uncertainty.

As a result, Florida residents and tourists received different messages from state and local authorities about when to evacuate and where to go.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott waived tolls on all Florida highways and told people if they were thinking about leaving, "Get out now."

But in the same breath, he acknowledged "it's hard to tell people where to go until we know exactly where it will go."