Hurricane Irma has hit Florida as a Category 4 storm after causing major destruction in Cuba. More than 63 lakh people were asked to evacuate Florida in the United States after warnings that the hurricane would be “life-threatening”. At least 25 people have already died after the storm caused havoc in the Caribbean.

“A very dangerous day is unfolding in the Florida Keys and much of West Florida,” Michael Brennan, a senior hurricane specialist at the United States National Hurricane Center told The Washington Post. “It certainly could inundate the entire island. That’s why everyone in the Keys was urged so strongly to evacuate.”

Irma was moving with maximum sustained winds of 215 kmph, the United States National Hurricane Center said.

Weather officials have warned that the storm will cause major destruction in the state, the magnitude of which has not been seen in a generation.

More than 4 lakh customers have lost power in the area, officials said, according to CNN. Those who did not evacuate have endangered their lives, and are on their own till rescuers can reach them, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long said Saturday.