Hurricane Milton tracker: May be one of Florida's worst storms in 100 years

Hurricane Milton, now a powerful Category 4 hurricane, is taking aim at Florida's west coast. Landfall is expected late Wednesday night, possibly as a Category 3 hurricane.

Milton is closing in as Floridians are still recovering from the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene.

Latest Developments

_{Oct 8, 3:27 PM}

Tracking Milton: Latest forecast

Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.

Milton, now a Category 4 hurricane, is forecast to weaken slightly before making landfall late Wednesday night or early Thursday near Tampa and Sarasota.

Milton is expected to be a Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane when it slices from west to east across Central Florida.

The Tampa area is bracing for a potentially record-breaking storm surge up to 15 feet. This would shatter the record-breaking storm surge just two weeks ago from Hurricane Helene.

Storm surge could reach 10 feet in Fort Myers and 7 feet in Naples.

Because of Milton’s large size, tropical storm-force winds are expected across nearly all of Florida. These winds will likely cause widespread damage to property and trees and leave millions without power for days to weeks.

The highest rain totals are expected from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona, where an extreme flash flood risk -- the highest level -- is in effect.

Five to 12 inches of rain is in the forecast; locally up to 18 inches is expected.

-ABC News’ Melissa Griffin

_{Oct 8, 3:17 PM}

Florida faces its largest emergency health care facility evacuation

Florida is facing its largest-ever evacuation of emergency health care facilities due to Hurricane Milton, a Florida Department of Health spokesperson told ABC News.

-ABC News' Mary Kekatos

_{Oct 8, 3:17 PM}

White House using Reddit to try to combat hurricane misinformation

The White House is launching a Reddit account to try to combat misinformation about hurricanes Helene and Milton, a White House official said.

The White House will use the account to post about how people can access FEMA support. The account will also engage with posts that are sharing false information and correct the record, the official said.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

_{Oct 8, 1:57 PM}

Over 700 flights canceled Tuesday, another 1,500 canceled Wednesday

Over 700 flights have been canceled across the country on Tuesday and another 1,500 flights are canceled on Wednesday as Hurricane Milton closes in on Florida.

The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport are all set to close.

The Florida Division of Emergency Services said it has partnered with Uber to provide free rides to and from shelters as residents evacuate ahead of Milton.

_{Oct 8, 1:50 PM}

United: All flights leaving storm zone are full

United Airlines added extra flights and bigger planes to airports in the storm zone, and now the airline says all of its flights are full.

United currently has 25,000 people booked from affected airports.

The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport are all set to close for the storm.

-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney

_{Oct 8, 2:04 PM}

'Storm of the century' for Tampa

"We’ve never seen anything like this before," Tampa police chief Lee Bercaw warned Tuesday as Milton approaches. "This is the storm of the century."

Tampa Bay is forecast to face a record-breaking storm surge of 10 to 15 feet. That surge will rise above a single-story home, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor stressed.

"That’s the coffin that you’re in," she said at a news conference.

Castor said she spoke to President Joe Biden Monday night and relayed that the city’s most important need was getting household debris from Hurricane Helene "off of the street so that doesn’t become additional fuel for Hurricane Milton."

In Hillsborough County, which encompasses Tampa, more than 1,700 people were already in nine shelters as of Tuesday morning, county emergency management director Timothy Dudley Jr. said, adding that the facilities are prepared to take a lot more people.

"Don’t panic. You have time. Get somewhere safe," he said.

_{Oct 8, 12:56 PM}

Counties issue mandatory evacuation orders

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in parts of counties along Florida's west coast and even Florida's east coast, including in Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, St. Johns and Volusia.

"If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you're asked to leave by your local officials, please do that," Michael Brennan, the director of NOAA's national hurricane center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. "You don't have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one's home."

Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days’ worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.

_{Oct 8, 12:15 PM}

Biden: Milton could be one of Florida's worst storms in 100 years

Milton could be one of Florida’s worst storms in 100 years, President Joe Biden warned while addressing the media on Tuesday.

Milton could not only enter Florida’s west coast as a hurricane but could still be hurricane-strength by the time it leaves Florida’s east coast, he said.

If you are under evacuation orders, leave now, Biden urged, stressing that it’s "a matter of life and death."

Biden has postponed his travel to Germany and Angola due to the hurricane. He was slated to leave on Thursday.

While preparing for Milton, the government is still "surging resources" in states impacted by Hurricane Helene, he said.

Biden said he spoke to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday.

"He said he's got all that he needs," Biden said, adding that he gave the governor his "personal phone number to call."

Biden also slammed individuals spreading misinformation around FEMA's response to Hurricane Helene, calling it "un-American."

_{Oct 8, 3:56 PM}

Florida Aquarium moving animals to higher ground

The Florida Aquarium in Tampa is moving animals to the facility’s highest level ahead of Hurricane Milton.

During Hurricane Helene, the aquarium took on 3 feet of water along the wharf, marking the first time in the aquarium’s 30 years that water breached the wharf. With a bigger storm surge forecast for Milton, aquarium officials are expecting the first floor to take on water.

Usually aquarium staff members will stay with the animals to ride out a Category 1 or 2 hurricane. But because of the severity of Milton, all staff members will evacuate mid-day Wednesday and plan to return on

_{Oct 8, 9:55 AM}

Hurricane warnings extend to Florida’s east coast

Hurricane warnings are in effect in Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando as Hurricane Milton closes in.

Hurricane and storm surge warnings have now also been issued for parts of Florida’s east coast, including Daytona Beach, Cape Canaveral and Melbourne.

-ABC News’ Max Golembo

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