Category 4 Hurricane Michael is making landfall in Florida and is expected to be the most powerful hurricane to hit the coastal US state in a century.
US President Donald Trump has declared a state of emergency for the entire state, freeing up federal assistance to supplement state and local disaster responses.
These live updates have finished.
12:20pm - Hurricane Michael may have been downgraded to a category 3, but it's continuing to wreak havoc on coastal cities.
In footage posted to social media by Newsweek, building debris can be seen hurling through the sky in Panama City against a backdrop of wreckage and trees almost bent in half.
In another video posted by meteorologist Marc Weinberg, new construction can be seen collapsing on Panama City Beach as Hurricane Michael pummels the coast. Panama City's waterfront is a popular vacation destination.
ABC News posted more devastating footage shot by Aaron Rigsby, which shows Hurricane Michael ripping through Panama City Beach, ripping away roofs and flooding condos.
Images posted by US news reporter Josh Benson depict total devastation.
11:25am - Hurricane Michael's path to the US state of Georgia makes history.
Georgia Meteorologist Brad Nitz says Michael is the first major hurricane to make its way into the state in 120 years.
"Hurricane Michael has moved into southwest Georgia as a category 3 hurricane," he wrote on Twitter.
"This map shows all the major hurricanes in Georgia since 1851. The last time this happened in Georgia was 1898! All four were in the 1800s."
10:45am - Hurricane Michael is charging on towards the US state of Georgia.
Michael has now been downgraded to a category 3 hurricane, but it's still very dangerous and is expected to drench the state with up to 20cm of rain, the New York Times reports.
According to The Guardian, it's moving at about 25km/h and has winds of up to 201km/h.
9:30am - The damage inflicted by Hurricane Michael is now very clear.
North Carolina's Weather Authority has posted images of the damage in Panama City, a coastal city in Florida near the border with Alabama.
In one image, a building is completely destroyed, with debris scattered around it. Another image shows a truck crushed by a building which fell on top of it, while another shows a house with its entire front ripped off.
"It's very sad," one person commented, while others offered their prayers.
Panama City was projected to be the first to feel Hurricane Michael's historic landfall. Most of the city had evacuated under Florida Governor Rick Scott's strict request.
Hundreds of Florida Highway Patrol troopers have been dispatched across Florida to help with the recovery efforts, Mr Scott said in a tweet.
8:30am - Video posted to social media shows catastrophic scenes from Mexico Beach in Florida.
The footage shows severe flooding around houses, with debris strewn around bent palm trees. The flooding is so bad in some areas that only the roofs of houses can be seen.
CBS Correspondent Nicole Killion told The AM Show from Florida's Panama City that Hurricane Michael has turned out to be "extremely bad".
"We've taken shelter in our hotel, and I can tell you, the position we were going live from is completely swamped and the water has completely taken over the area," she said.
The storm is officially a category 4, but Killion told The AM Show it's now almost a category 5 - "the strongest hurricane you can have".
"It's taken a lot of people by surprise how quickly it has intensified," Killion said.
"It has been a concern that there would be a significant storm surge and we're anticipating this surge could be upwards of 13ft, so flooding certainly remains a concern. The worst could still yet be to come."
8:00am - It's projected there could be up to 200,000 power outages across Florida. Duke Energy Florida, which provides power to much of central and north Florida, said it anticipates widespread outages, particularly along the coastline.
Even when Hurricane Michael was still around 80km away from hitting the Florida coastline, 30,000 homes were without power in the Panhandle (northwestern part of the state). Power companies have asked for patience from residents.
"When crews reach an outage with standard equipment, we send in tracked vehicles to navigate tough terrain," Duke Energy said on Twitter.
7:40am - An entire house has been ripped apart in Mexico Beach, a city in Florida, by Hurricane Michael. Footage posted to social media shows parts of the home washing up to other properties.
In another video posted by KATV News reporter Nick Popham, a storm surge can be seen rising in Port St Joe, another city in Florida.
7:00am - ABC News reporter David Muir was reporting on the storm when an awning collapseed live on camera.
5:00am - Reuters reported that Hurricane Michael is hours away from smashing into Florida's northwestern shore with a wall of water and roof-shredding winds.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said in a tweet, "If you chose to stay in an evacuation zone, you MUST SEEK REFUGE IMMEDIATELY."
Apalachicola Mayor Van Johnson said the city, which could suffer some of the worst of the storm surge, was under mandatory evacuation orders.
"My greatest concern is that some people are just now starting to take this storm seriously and are evacuating," he told CNN.
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