Irma smashes into Florida coast bringing tornadoes, tidal surges and 130mph winds

'IT'S NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR US': TAMPA BRACES FOR IRMA AS PATH CHANGES 

As Hurricane Irma's path suddenly changed on Saturday, Tampa was suddenly on track for a direct hit from the deadly storm. 

The city sits on the west coast of Florida and was not initially included in forecast for where the worst affected regions will be. The entire state is preparing for tropical storm conditions and nowhere will be entirely free of its conditions but Tampa is now the city where it is expected to make landfall. 

After the new forecast emerged on Saturday, Tampa's Mayor Bob Buckhorn spoke to CNN after the new forecast was revealed.  He said ominously: 'It's not looking good for us but we are hunkered down and ready to react.' 

Irma will strike Tampa on Monday, bringing heavy rain and wind for several hours. The real concern is the storm surge the rain will trigger. 

Buckhorn warned residents in evacuation zones to get out now before the winds grow too strong. 

'There will be people who think they can ride this out. We hope they will be OK. But once the winds hit or go above 40mph, our police and fire fighters cannot come to get you.' 

In a sinister sign-off, he added: 'We never expected a storm of this magnitude.  We're going to do the very best we can,' adding: 'Keep us in your prayers.' Many people on the east coast had fled to Tampa among other west coast cities where they thought they would be safer. 

They were faced with a grave set of circumstances on Saturday as Irma moved.  

The monstrous hurricane has already claimed at least 24 lives in the Caribbean and wiped out entire small islands. 

Cuba and The Bahamas were battered by the storm on Friday night and Saturday during the day.  Irma made landfall on the island nation at around 11.10pm on Friday as a Category 5 hurricane. Its eye hovered over the northwest tip on Saturday. 

The winds were ferocious, reaching 160mph in parts of The Bahamas and destroying a wind measuring device in Cuba. The center of Hurricane Irma cleared the Cuban coast Saturday night and entered the Florida Straits, where bathtub-warm water of nearly 90 degrees will enable the storm to intensify.

'This is the first Category 5 storm to hit the island since 1924. Obviously Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States,' Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said at a press conference Friday morning. 'We're going to have a couple rough days.'

The outer bands of the hurricane have already reached the U.S., with south Florida and the Keys experiencing increased rain and wind speeds.