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

This video, filmed in Dauphin Island, Alabama, shows strong winds and heavy rain coming down.

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.