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The legendary Ernest Hemingway home appears doomed ... an almost certain casualty of Hurricane Irma ... this according to local law enforcement.

The Key West home -- made of wood and built in the 1850's -- sits about 16 feet above sea level, which is the highest point on the island. Law enforcement tells us they're expecting at least 15 feet of water to flood the area ... so the outcome is bleak.

The Hemingway Home's manager, 72-year-old Jacqui Sands, has already said she's staying put to maintain the home and its 55 or so roaming cats. Jacqui and some staff are boarding up and bunkering down.

If Jacqui or her staff are injured, cops say they'll be left to fend for themselves, because hospitals, ERs, rescue crews and other government assistance will not be available.

A farewell to Hemingway?

"America's Got Talent" champ Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. won't face charges at this time for allegedly hitting his baby mama with a golf club ... TMZ has learned.

The domestic violence case against the season 6 winner of 'AGT' was dismissed without prejudice Wednesday ... meaning the case could still be reopened pending further investigation and discussions with the victim.

As we reported ... Landau was arrested in July for misdemeanor domestic battery and assault after an alleged brawl with his GF at the time, and was accused of striking her under her eye with a club.

Murphy says he is no longer in a relationship with the woman, but the 2 have a child to raise and "we both want our son to realize that his parents love him."

Hurricane Irma's catastrophic winds barreling their way to Florida have triggered a mass exodus and Miami International Airport is feeling the squeeze.

This video was shot Thursday in one of the terminals and you can see would-be passengers packed like sardines inside. The person who shot this video was turned away because she couldn't get a flight. She sent her daughter on a plane to Buffalo and hopes to follow tomorrow.

Some airlines have already started cancelling flights and aren't expected to resume until Sept. 11.

JetBlue on Wednesday reduced fares ... capping them at $159.

The hurricane relief telethon set for Tuesday night will have a slew of huge stars, and even the partial list we got hold of is super impressive. Here they are:

-- Justin Bieber

-- Drake

-- Reese Witherspoon

-- Jamie Foxx

-- Blake Shelton

-- Billy Crystal

-- Robert De Niro

-- Sofia Vergara

-- Michael Strahan

-- Tim McGraw

-- Faith Hill

We're told when Scooter Braun and Bun B organized it, the telethon was going to be for Hurricane Harvey, but with Irma looming, it's now called "Hurricane Relief."

Hurricane Irma is poised to wreak havoc in the Miami area, and a bunch of enormous celebrity homes are in the line of extreme danger.

Gloria Estefan, Diddy, and 'Real Housewives of Miami' stars Roy and Lea Black all own homes on star-studded Star Island -- Gloria actually has 2 -- both in Irma's path.

Likewise for nearby Miami Beach, where celebs like Phil Collins, Shakira, Dwyane Wade, and Birdman are in the hurricane's path. Same goes for the Villa Casa Casuarina -- the famed Versace mansion. And there are a slew of other celebs with mega homes in the danger zone.

Irma's expected to hit with a vengeance over the weekend.

Usher just fired back at the 2 women and a man who claimed he exposed them to genital herpes ... and he says it's all BS.

Usher's legal team just filed a response to the California herpes lawsuit. He denies everything ... specifically, their claims he had sexual contact with them, and the claim he exposed them to herpes.

One of the women, Quantasia Sharpton, said in a news conference with her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, she did not contract herpes when she allegedly had sex with him after celebrating her 19th birthday at an Usher concert ... but she claims he exposed her to the STD.

Usher, through his lawyers Laura Wasser and Zia Modabber, also raises an interesting argument ... the 3 plaintiffs can't win because they have "unclean hands." That means he's alleging they did something wrong, although he's not specific.

And there's this ... Usher claims the 2 women and the man don't have a legal claim because anything Usher might have done was unintentional. The intimation ... if he had herpes, he didn't know it at the time.

Oscar De La Hoya is addressing those infamous lingerie photos that have followed him around for years -- saying they were taken at a "bad time in my life" ... but he's a better person now.

The boxing legend was asked about the shots during an interview with "The Breakfast Club" -- when Charlamagne Tha God (of course) wanted to know the real story behind the pics of Oscar dressed up in fishnets.

"Just a bad time in my life," Oscar said ... "That's it."

Oscar didn't expand on why it was a bad time -- but noted the pics were taken 10 years ago ... before his 3 stints in rehab for substance abuse.

De La Hoya was asked if the pics have hurt his career as a boxing promoter -- but he shot that down saying he's only gotten "better" in his personal and professional life since the photos were taken.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West sure know how to pick 'em -- surrogates that is -- because the woman they found to carry their third child sounds like the perfect choice.

Sources familiar with the pregnancy tell us ... the couple's surrogate is an African-American woman in her 20s -- same with her husband. We're told she and her hubby have been married for 5 years, and their marriage is solid.

She's also had experience in the labor department. She's the mother of 2 small boys, so she knows the drill.

The surrogate's a college grad, so maybe the kid will pick up some of that through osmosis.

She's also in great physical shape, which helps with a smooth pregnancy. As we reported, she's halfway along and the baby girl is due in late January.

One more thing ... she's a registered Democrat, so it looks like the names Ivanka and Melania aren't in the cards.

Floyd Mayweather just went on an INSANE shopping spree with the bank he made from his Conor McGregor fight ... droppin' around a QUARTER MIL on purses!

We got Mayweather leaving Luxury Exchange in Beverly Hills after TBE binged on Hermes Birkin bags ... buying up a crazy expensive 4-pack.

The breakdown, courtesy of their online store:

-1 limited edition white crocodile ($125k!!)
-1 black crocodile (at least $35k)
-1 red crocodile (at least $35k)
-1 ostrich (at least $35k)

Not sure if Floyd got the Birkins for the hot chick he rolled out with -- he's rumored to be dating reality star Abigail Clarke, FYI -- but either way ... he clearly ain't trippin' on a tiny fraction of his $300 mil.

9:42 AM -- Richard says he's never seen anything like Hurricane Irma. He adds, "Necker and the whole area have been completely and utterly devastated. We are still assessing the damage, but whole houses and trees have disappeared. Outside of the bunker, bathroom and bedroom doors and windows have flown 40 feet away. I'm speaking these words from a satellite phone that is just about working, but all other communications is down."

Richard Branson's menagerie of exotic animals are not all accounted for after Hurricane Irma tore through Branson's Necker Island ... TMZ has learned.

As we reported, Branson proudly assembled an awesome array of animals, including lemurs, flamingos, gigantic tortoises and exotic birds, among others.

We're told the lemurs were herded into guest rooms on the island and the parrots and tortoises were caged and stored in some of the structures. A number of structures on the island were either heavily damaged or destroyed, and people are now searching through the rubble, trying to find all the animals.

As for the flamingos -- and there are hundreds -- there was nothing Branson or his people could do ... they were left by the small lake to fend for themselves. As we reported, flamingos try to protect themselves in the midst of a hurricane by forming a line and taking turns buffering the others. With a storm as strong as Irma, however, that may have been a futile effort.

Prince George marched into his first day of kindergarten (they call it Primary School) Thursday like a boss -- or like a guy who's mingling with his subjects.

Prince William held lil Geo's hand as they walked into Thomas's Battersea -- a fancy private school near their Kensington Palace home. The likely future King of England displayed impeccable manners, naturally, as he met the headmistress.

Duchess Kate wasn't able to attend because she's stuck at home with severe morning sickness with her third pregnancy.

Today, kindergarten ... tomorrow, all of Great Britain.

U2 just gave a famous NYC pizza place an endorsement that's worth a million bucks.

Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton hit up Famous Ray's Pizza Wednesday night as our photog watched them salivate over the pies on display.

The band drew a crowd outside as fans tried snapping away. It got so crowded, cops led an escort ... for Bono, as he left with pizza box in hand.

So, what d'ya think? Does Bono fess up to our photog on the type of pizza that drew him in?

The tiger that escaped in Atlanta -- and was shot and killed by police -- was a 6-year-old star in Ringling Bros. Circus.

Suzy was one of 14 tigers being transported from Florida to Tennessee when she escaped. The company behind the circus that was handling the transfer says it doesn't know how she got away.

Suzy was one of the tigers circus trainer Alex Lacey used in his act.

Since the circus shut down, she'd been living in Florida. She and the other tigers were being sent to a different circus in Germany.

Suzy was shot by Atlanta cops Wednesday morning after she got into a backyard and reportedly attacked a small dog.

He's Kid Rock and he approves this message: "Nazis and bigots ... stay the f**k away!"

Kid's all but confirmed he's running for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan next year -- and gave us a peek at his platform during his Wednesday night show in Grand Rapids. Standing behind a presidential podium, he barked, "Call me a racist 'cause I'm not PC, and think you have to remind me that Black Lives Matter!"

He also went off about welfare mothers, deadbeat dads and yes ... nazis and the KKK. He also managed to rhyme most of the speech.

BTW, candidate Kid's podium read, "United States of 'Merica" and he was flanked by hot chicks wearing only men's button downs.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s son has not joined the chorus of Trump haters in the wake of his Dreamers punt.

We got MLK's youngest son, Dexter King, at LAX, assuming he'd rag on the Prez for saying he has "great love" for the Dreamers. Quite the opposite ... he wants to cut Trump a break.

Whoopi Goldberg has better things to think about than Jamie Foxx hooking up with Katie Holmes.

We got Whoopi out in the rain Wednesday at NYC's Lincoln Center, and she was characteristically hysterical. When our photog asked about Jamie and Katie's official coming out, she fired back at his premise ... that it had any impact on her life.

More importantly ... Whoopi was festooned in duds that are hard to describe, but pretty damn awesome!