Newfoundlanders await Irma's landfall in Florida

A Salvation Army Captain from Newfoundland now living in Florida is battening down the hatches ahead of Hurricane Irma's predicted landfall on Sunday.

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Julia Butler-Tarnuegrew up in Brighton in Notre Dame Bay and now lives in Sanford, Fla., near Orlando, where she is busy helping her visiting parents prepare for the storm that has devastated islands in the Caribbean on its north towards Florida.

"My parents say that they'd rather be here than being at home and worrying about what's happening, in a sense, but certainly this is their first experience with hurricanes," she said.

As a member of the Salvation Army, Butler-Tarnue is part of the organization's efforts to ensure that food and water are available for residents in need during the storm.

"At our local Salvation Army building we have the capacity right now to feed 1,500 people right away," she said.

"Once the hurricane hits and damage is assessed and we know where the needs are, then resources [will be]deployed to the areas [most] in need of it."

Worried about seniors, people living alone

Butler-Tarnue told CBC's Weekend AMon Saturday that she's most worried about the impact of the storm on senior citizens, those living alone, and people with disabilities.

She said the Salvation Army has already touched base and provided supplies to many of the people most at risk.

For now, all that's left is the hardest part waiting.

Butler-Tarnue said Sanford is not currently under an evacuation order, but all of Florida is expected to be hit by the impending storm.

"The word is there's no part of the state of Florida that will not be impacted in some way," she said.

"There's fear of storm surges, power outages are being predicting, so every Florida resident is preparing."