Hurricane Milton, which is forecast to slam into Florida's west coast as a powerful Category 4 storm either Wednesday night or early Thursday, is spurring mass evacuations as the threat of dangerous storm surge and life-threatening winds increases.
The hurricane was located about 210 miles southwest of Tampa at 10am ET today, packing maximum sustained winds of 155mph, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. It was moving to the northeast at 16 mph.
"Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida," the center said in an earlier update. Residents were urged to speed up emergency preparations, including evacuations if required.
Ports on Florida's Gulf coast from Tampa to Fort Myers Beach closed yesterday in advance of the storm. Officials dispatched emergency stockpiles to retail stations as panic buying depleted fuel supplies and energy companies were forced to shut down pipelines and terminals. The offshore oil and natural gas hub in the Gulf of Mexico was largely spared as Milton's track took it to the far south of most platforms.
On its current forecast path, the center of Milton will sweep across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today, with landfall expected along the west-central coast of Florida late tonight or Thursday morning. The hurricane will then move back over the western Atlantic Ocean Thursday afternoon.
"Milton is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida tonight," the center warned.
