FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (REUTERS) - Florida Governor Rick Scott told the CBS news programme, Face The Nation, on Sunday (Sept 10) that he is praying for anyone who remains in the Florida Keys as powerful Hurricane Irma moves through the area.

The category 4 storm made landfall in the Keys at 9:10am Sunday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. Scott told the CBS programme that Irma's storm surge could be even more deadly than its 130mph (209kmh) winds. He said: "I don't know how you're going to survive that."

State officials had urged more than 6 million people throughout the Keys and southern Florida to flee ahead of the storm, and Scott said he believed most had heeded the warnings.

The evacuees filled up emergency shelters and hotel rooms as far north as Atlanta, Georgia, in their efforts to escape the deadly winds and water.