Hurricane Irma's winds have started whipping Florida as the storm spins on a new track that puts Tampa ‑‑ not Miami ‑‑ in its crosshairs.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that Irma is now a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 201km/h.
Forecasters expect the storm to pick strength back up as it moves away from Cuba and toward the Florida Keys.
The storm's center was about 185km southeast of Key West, Florida.
The storm left at least 22 people dead across the Caribbean.
Meteorologists say damaging winds from Irma's outer bands were already arriving in South Florida.
