ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Wednesday Hurricane Michael is expected to be the worst storm to hit the state in more than 100 years.

The powerful storm is expected to bring a wall of water and roof-shredding winds on Wednesday and authorities told residents along the coast they had run out of time to evacuate and should hunker down.

A very dangerous Category 4 storm on five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, Michael had strengthened as it moved north over the Gulf of Mexico and by 8 a.m.

ET (1200 GMT) was carrying top winds of 145 miles per hour (230 km per hour), the National Hurricane Center said.

It was set to make landfall later on Wednesday on Florida's Panhandle and could drive sea water levels as high as 14 feet (4.3 meters) above normal, the center said.

The storm could strengthen further before coming ashore, it said.