Miami, September 9 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Florida, freeways jammed with cars over the past several days as officials ordered the evacuation of more than a million people -- one the largest evacuations in U.S. history.

Irma’s eye is projected to strike South Florida early Sunday morning as a Category 4 storm, delivering storm surges of 10 feet or higher. In Miami Beach, which averages only three feet above sea level, Mayor Philip Levine told a local reporter that Irma is an existential threat.

The mayor of Miami Beach said that Irma is "a nuclear hurricane" and that people should not try to ride out the storm. Meanwhile, the U.S. National Weather Service warns of likely structural damage to even sturdy buildings, with the complete destruction of mobile homes likely.