As monstrous Hurricane Irma strikes Florida there will be Australians in her path.
Queensland barista Oliver McLeod and his eight-month pregnant wife Jennifer were late Friday still contemplating whether they would stay in St Augustine, a beach city in Florida's north-east, with their three-year-old son Luca and dog Rubi.
They also have the option to evacuate north to an Australian mate's cabin in North Carolina.
Jennifer is due in 2.5 weeks and is planning a home birth.
"Jennifer's family are all going, 'Get yourselves out of there!' Leave now!" Mr McLeod, 26, told AAP.
One thing the couple is glad about is they are expecting a boy.
"We may have had to consider the name Irma if we were having a girl, as horrible as that name sounds," Mr McLeod, formerly from Mooloolaba on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, laughed.
Another Australian, Sydney-raised yacht broker David Nichols, has chosen to stay in his waterside home in the south-eastern Florida coastal city of Fort Lauderdale, about 40km north of Miami Beach.
Mr Nichols has lived in Florida since 1977 and just like the McLeods, his wife was late in her pregnancy with their son during 1992's category Hurricane Andrew, the most devastating hurricane to hit the state with 63,000 houses destroyed and 65 people dead.
His Fort Lauderdale home is on the New River, about 8km inland and with a power generator and plenty of food, water, alcohol and Australian supplies like Four'N Twenty meat pies and Tim Tams he is confident he will withstand Irma.
"She's right," Mr Nichols said.
"No worries mate"
Irma is expected to hit southern Florida Sunday 2am (4pm Sunday AEST) as a category five with 257km/h winds.
It is 130km wide and is forecast to travel north inflicting damage throughout the state and whip up 3.6 metre storm surges.
The hurricane has cut a path of devastation through the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Cuba, Barbuda and St Martin and more destruction will come with category four Hurricane Jose expected to follow a similar path in coming days.
The McLeod's beach home in St Augustine is in a forced evacuation zone, but by the time Irma arrives she is expected to be reduced to a category two hurricane with winds of 160km/h.
If they don't go to North Carolina they will likely stay with a friend who lives in a solid, elevated home in St Augustine that is close to their midwife and near paramedics and generators.
Mr McLeod is a barista at one of the four Aussie style meat pie and coffee cafes called The Kookaburra in St Augustine, co-owned by another Australian, Spencer Hooker.
Mr Hooker, who also plans to ride out Irma, and his staff have spent the past two days boarding up and sandbagging the businesses.
They spray painted "Bring It Irma Love Kookaburra" on one of their cafes.
Mr Hooker said he'll be loaded up with "lots of pies and beer" when Irma hits.
"We're going to ride it out, think we'll be fine," Mr Hooker said.
