As Hurricane Irma continues to pick up steam on its way toward the United States, some Florida residents are taking shelter.

More than a half-million people have been ordered to evacuate to escape the Category 5 hurricane tracking toward the state.Late Thursday, the National Hurricane Center issued the first hurricane warnings for the Keys and parts of South Florida, including some of the Miami metropolitan area of 6 million people and Lake Okeechobee, late Thursday. It added a storm surge warning and extended watch areas wrapping around the tip of the peninsula.People along the Atlantic coast anxiously watched the behemoth while Irma battered the northern Caribbean, killing at least 11 people and leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees.At least 31,000 people fled the Florida Keys, which could begin seeing wind and rain from Irma as early as Friday night, Gov. Rick Scott said. He noted the size of the powerful storm, and told residents not to become complacent.Irma will blast the northern Caribbean with flooding rain, damaging winds and rough surf this week, bringing life-threatening conditions to the islands.A similar scenario could play out somewhere along the Gulf or East coasts this weekend or next week, depending on Irma's track.With natural resources such as gas and water exceedingly hard to come by, any chance to nab either or both is met with open arms.Maria Wieand, former Pocono resident who lives in Ridge Manor, Florida, described the bedlam."The worst part is not being able to find gas at the gas stations, and no water in the stores," Wieand said. "When you see a gas station, you pull in and top off."Wieand said the fight for gasoline started there on Wednesday."The tankers fill them up, and two hours later, they are out," she said.Unlike many of her contemporaries, Wieand said she and her family are staying put."I'm not heading north, we are staying here," she said. "We are predicted to get hit Sunday night, but the eye should go east after it hits Miami."Wieand said that on Thursday night, they drove from their house in Ridge Manor to Sarasota, picked up her husband's mom, and shuttered up her house in the dark and rain.They got back to their house at 2:30 a.m. Friday, and were up at 7 a.m., when Wieand said they finished the preps at their house."We've got all of our generators ready, food, canned goods and dried products," she said. "Thank goodness for (formerly) living in Pennsylvania, we have our oil lamps ready to go."Wieand added, "If it comes to the point where we would have to evacuate, we would go to our neighborhood shelter."Annie Myers, associate dean and professor at Broward College, Fort Lauderdale, said the college had to secure all of the buildings. The school was closed Thursday and Friday.Myers, formerly of Palmerton, said she headed out to get all of her hurricane supplies, such as water, peanut butter and jelly, and bread."I cooked yesterday (Thursday) all the foods I had in my freezer because I have a little grill," Myers said. "I filled a lot of containers with ice in my freezer, and have lots of candles."Myers, who said she lives in a fairly new apartment complex, has hurricane windows and doors.She said she was planning to leave Friday to pick up her best friend and her elderly mother, who live in Brickell Key, Miami, one of the evacuation areas.Myers added, "These things change right until the last minute. It just makes us all a little bit anxious."I was here during Hurricane Andrew; I've already been through a pretty intense hurricane," she said. "I just know to hunker down; it doesn't really pay to get too anxious or stressed out, you just have to put all that energy into preparing."Jim Zbick, a retired Times News staffer who lives in Fort Myers, Southwest Florida, perhaps summed it up best."Having power, like the storm's path, is an uncertainty," Zbick said. "I'm planning to stay put in my home, although there are many fleeing north; shelters are now open, mostly because we have mandatory evacuations from the coastal areas threatened by storm surge, and because we've had people arriving here from the East Coast."For residents such as Zbick, it's a wait-and-see approach."By the size of the storm, no area of Florida is safe," he said. "Just hoping and praying my windows hold up and the house stays together."AccuWeather.com contributed to this report.