Miami faces a DIRECT HIT: Mass exodus as Florida and Georgia residents hit the road to flee Irma's 175mph winds after storm surge warnings while eye of Category 4 hurricane heads for the US East Coast

Miami is now in the 'worst possible position' as Hurricane Irma (pictured inset bottom right) heads for the US mainland, while a mass exodus of Florida and Georgia residents (pictured) has already begun. With the storm barreling towards the tip of Florida for perhaps a catastrophic blow this weekend, the US National Hurricane Center forecast reported that the most likely path of the eye of the storm had shifted. The center said it had become likely that Irma will make landfall on Saturday or Sunday in southern Florida as a dangerous major hurricane and bring 'life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts' to much of the state. Irma is still more than 600 miles from Florida and is currently 'pummeling' the Turks and Caicos islands.