A sign at a Moultrie gas station apologizes to customers: "Sorry but we are out of gas. … All we have is diesel. … Sorry for the inconvenience." A quick survey of gas stations Wednesday evening found several with plastic bags over pump handles, indicating that the tanks are empty. Other stations, however, appeared to be doing a normal business; no long lines were seen at that time.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — It’s 500 miles from South Georgia to Miami, but as Hurricane Irma takes aim at the Florida metropolis, Georgians are watching closely.

The storm hit Caribbean islands early Wednesday with 185-mph winds, a Category 5 monster that has been described as the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record.

Meteorologists have mapped a cone in which the storm is likely to travel. Miami sits right in the middle of it, and the storm is expected to be in the neighborhood of that city Sunday morning. Weather websites and TV reporters have emphasized how far out those predictions are and how uncertain a storm’s exact path is days in advance.

If Irma clings to the eastern part of the “cone of uncertainty,” it might not make landfall at all in the United States. If it runs to the western side, it could enter the Gulf of Mexico and come ashore somewhere around Pensacola, Fla. And about half of the cone — the western half — brings the storm in the neighborhood of Colquitt County.

“Everybody’s gearing up for the worst,” Moultrie City Manager Pete Dillard said at a city council work session Tuesday. The utilities and public works departments are stockpiling supplies they’ll need if destructive weather comes this way, he said.

“What about shelters?” Mayor Bill McIntosh asked. Dillard didn’t have an answer but promised to get one. The American Red Cross would be in charge of opening shelters wherever they’re needed.

Florida officials expected to issue voluntary evacuation orders as early as Wednesday evening, but a sizable number of people have already sought to beat the rush, some of them by coming to Moultrie.

Tommie Beth Willis, president of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce, told the Moultrie City Council Tuesday that she had called local motels and found them to be booked up.

The Georgia Department of Transportation said Tuesday that contractors will be opening all northbound lanes of Interstate 75, sweeping the shoulders and checking storm drains in early preparations for the storm’s potential impact.

“Although the track of the hurricane and its impact on this area of the state are unknown at this time, Georgia DOT is making preparations for potential increased traffic due to evacuations and possible heavy rainfall and/or storm damage,” the DOT press release said. “If needed, department personnel from other areas of the state are prepared to mobilize in Tifton.”