Hurricane Irma has caused death and destruction as it roars its way through the Caribbean this week and new path forecasts show it is heading straight for Miami.
The hurricane is expected to wreak havoc on the city and the nearby Florida Keys and residents in low-lying areas are being urged to save their lives and flee.
Mr Scott said residents should think of their families and do the right thing, adding the hurricane will tear “right through the middle” of Florida.
Wearing a Navy baseball cap, he issued a passionate televised appeal this afternoon.
Mr Scott said: “I’m a father, I’m a grandfather, I love my family. I hope every parent in this state and grandparent is thinking, ‘How do I protect my family?’
“It looks like it’s going to go right through the middle of our state. It’s a massive storm – it can be devastating.”
He said residents were risking their lives by waiting and seeing whether Hurricane Irma would calm down before hitting the state.
Mr Scott said: “If you’re in an evacuation zone, you’ve got to get out. You can’t wait.
READ MORE: Hurricane Irma: Which US cities are at risk?
“This can be a devastating fstorm. It’s way bigger than [1992’s Hurricane] Andrew – and we saw the devastation of Andrew.”
He revealed extraordinary measures were being taken to help residents get out of the state amid fuel shortages and traffic james.
Mr Scott said: “We’re providing law enforcement escorts to get the fuel from the fuel depots to the gas stations as fast as we can.
“I’ve asked the White House … to waive some rules to get more fuel into the state.”
Hurricane Irma is currently a Category 4 storm with winds of up to 160mph.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on Friday that nine people were killed and at least seven were missing after the hurricane crashed into France’s Caribbean islands of St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.
Four people died in the US Virgin islands, a government spokesman said, and a major hospital was badly damaged by the wind. A US amphibious assault ship arrived in the US Virgin Islands on Thursday and sent helicopters for medical evacuations from the destroyed hospital.
A man was reported missing after trying to cross a river in Cerca La Source in Haiti’s Central Plateau region.
On Barbuda one person died and the eastern Caribbean island was reduced “to rubble,” Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.
READ MORE: Hurricane Irma set to slam into Florida
In the British overseas territory of Anguilla, another person was killed and the hospital and airport were damaged, emergency service officials said.
Three people were killed in Puerto Rico and around two-thirds of the population had lost electricity, Governor Ricardo Rossello said after the storm rolled by the U.S. territory’s northern coast.
A surfer was also reported killed in Barbados.
US President Donald Trump warned of Hurricane Irma’s destructive potential on Friday as the storm headed toward Florida and urged residents in its path to heed government recommendations.
He said: “This is a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential. I ask everyone in the storm’s path to be vigilant and to heed all recommendations from government officials and law enforcement.”