Storm Chaser Captures Jaw-Dropping Images As Irma Makes Landfall

KEY WEST, Fla. (CBSLA.com) — In this day and age, it's not unusual that some of the most jaw-dropping images and clips of catastrophic Hurricane Irma have surfaced on social media.

Irma made landfall in Florida early Sunday morning, with a force of 130 mph winds.

Footage captured by a Florida webcam captured images as an onlooker in Key West was taken over by the sheer force of the Category 4 storm.

Other clips posted to Twitter showed other sight-seers who defied warnings.

"I just hope everybody got to safety. It's hard to respond right now because of the wind and the rain, but I know our first responders will get right back out there as soon as they can," said Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott warned that, even after the rain and winds calm down, the threat of the storm was very real.

Another clip showed a storm chaser getting out of his car to measure Irma's wind speed. The unbelievable clip shows the man (Twitter handle @simonstormchaser) nearly getting knocked down.

Meanwhile, Scott said for those who have not evacuated, that it would be unsafe to do so at this juncture, and urged them to shelter-in-place.