Authorities ordered mass evacuations for residents in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama on September 4 as authorities predicted Gordon's landfall along the northern Gulf Coast tonight.

This video, filmed in Gulf Shores, Alabama, shows strong winds coming in.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning from the mouth of the Pearl River, Mississippi, to the border between Alabama and Florida. Storm surge warnings are also in effect and tornados are not unlikely, forecasts say.

Across the states, residents have begun making preparations, boarding up windows and filling bags sandbags to avert flooding. It is predicted that Gordon could make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane.