Florida Gov. Rick Scott tells residents: 'You need to go right now'

(CNN)Gov. Rick Scott implored Floridians on Saturday to heed their local evacuation orders.

"If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now," he said at a morning news conference. "Do not wait. Evacuate. Not tonight, not in an hour. You need to go right now."
Scott told residents of southwest Florida they needed to leave by noon. If they weren't on the road at that point, he said, "Do not get on the road."
An estimated 6.3 million people have been ordered to evacuate, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Residents of the Miami area and the Florida Keys streamed north in packed vehicles Friday, anxiously rushing to dodge Hurricane Irma as the deadly storm took aim at their state after devastating the Caribbean.

Paulita Kundid, left, and her brother Mike board up their apartment building on Friday in Daytona Beach.
The dramatic mass exodus from South Florida could become one of the largest evacuations in US history, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are home to about 6 million people combined.
But by Saturday, Irma's path had shifted toward Florida's west coast, threatening the lower Florida Keys and cities such as Naples, Fort Myers and Tampa, and the clock is ticking for those who haven't left, officials warned.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Saturday morning that 14 shelters are opening in the area to take in evacuees.
"Obviously, there will be people who think they can ride this out. We hope they will be OK," Buckhorn said. "I will tell you that if the winds are consistently at 40 mph or greater, our police and firefighters cannot come to get you. So if you're going to stay, hunker down."
After battering Cuba, Irma was expected to strengthen again before it hits the Florida Keys.
"Based on what we know, the majority of Florida will have major hurricane impact and deadly winds. We expect this along the entire east coast and west coast," the governor said at a Friday news conference. "All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate."

On the road
On Friday, motorists braved clogged roads, backups and slowdowns to get out. Drivers waited for hours at gas stations, some of which ran out of fuel. The Florida Highway Patrol escorted fuel tankers so they could reach and resupply gas stations, the agency said.
Travel hot spots included Interstates 10, 95 and 75, and Florida's Turnpike. Troopers monitored roadways, stepping in to help after fender benders and with disabled cars and trucks.

Traffic slows to a crawl Friday on the northbound lanes of Florida's Turnpike near I-75 in Wildwood.
Yesenia Rivera left the Jacksonville Beach area on Friday and, 3½ hours later, was traveling west on I-10 near Lake City. "There is still severe congestion and stop-and-go traffic all the way to Tallahassee," she said.
Transportation officials said Friday that there were long areas of congestion on segments of I-75 northbound and I-95 northbound.
There was bumper-to-bumper traffic late Friday in the northbound lanes of I-95 south of Savannah, Georgia, CNN senior producer Bill Kirkos reported.
He said the parking lots of gas stations and truck stops were filled with parked cars, although it appeared stations had gas supplies and short lines.
Heading in the opposite direction, toward Florida, were utility trucks with out-of-state license plates, Kirkos said.
By Saturday morning, the Florida Department of Transportation said traffic had lessened.
What's with all these hurricane forecast models?
What's with all these hurricane forecast models?
The Georgia Department of Transportation suspended construction on interstates and state routes due to the expected surge of traffic.
In Florida, mandatory evacuation orders covered parts of Miami-Dade County, Broward County east of US 1, Palm Beach County, low-lying parts of Brevard County, coastal and low-lying areas of Jacksonville and Duval County, and Monroe County, home to the Florida Keys.
The evacuation of Miami-Dade County was the largest in its history, with an estimated 660,000 people asked to leave, Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Friday.