Irma slammed into southwest Florida on Sunday, threatening to bring dangerous storm surges to coastal areas already battered by the hurricane's powerful winds.
Now a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, Hurricane Irma is about 5 miles north of Naples, Florida, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory at 5 p.m. ET.
Irma is already uprooting trees and turning streets into rivers.
Forecasters warn that water levels are rapidly rising in Naples as the storm churns north.
And there's plenty more to come as Irma climbs the coast toward Fort Myers and Tampa.
"We're all hanging in there, ready to get out there to help others as soon as it's safe to do so," Marco Island Police Chief Al Schettino said as the storm hit his city on Sunday afternoon.
Even areas that aren't facing a direct hit from Irma are seeing flooding and downed power lines.
"We're getting slammed right now," Josh Levy, the mayor of Hollywood, Florida, said on Sunday afternoon.
Expected to be even more dangerous than the powerful winds are the storm surges that threaten Florida's coastal cities.
"The threat of catastrophic storm surge flooding is highest along the southwest coast of Florida, where 10 to 15 feet of inundation above ground level is expected," the hurricane center said. "This is a life-threatening situation."
Miami faces Irma's wrath
Gusts topping 90 mph whipped Miami on Sunday, knocking out power to more than 750,000 customers in the Miami-Dade area.
Flying objects such as coconuts turned into dangerous projectiles. And at least two construction cranes partially collapsed. One swung vigorously over downtown Miami. Another dangled over the city's Edgewater neighborhood.
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