Eye of Hurricane Irma hits Florida islands

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionMuch of the Florida Keys is only a few feet above sea level

The eye of Hurricane Irma has hit Florida's southern islands as a category four storm, forecasters say.

It is expected to pummel the low-lying Keys with winds reaching 130mph (209km/h), before travelling north-west up Florida's Gulf Coast.

More than 6.3 million people were told to evacuate Florida, with warnings of a huge storm surge that would be "life-threatening" to anyone in its path.

Irma has already devastated parts of the Caribbean with at least 25 deaths.

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Staying behind is 'almost like suicide'

Extreme winds, around the eye of the hurricane, are expected to last for the next two hours in the Lower Florida Keys area, which includes Key West.

All residents had been ordered to leave amid fears that a storm surge reaching 15ft (4.6m) could hit the coral cay islands, most of which are only a few feet above sea level.

One official had warned staying on the islands would be "almost like suicide".

As the eye of the storm moves north to mainland Florida, more than 430,000 homes in the state are reported to be without power.