Hurricane Milton surges closer to Florida ahead of storm landfall while tornadoes batter state: Live updates

Florida residents in the path of Hurricane Milton were instructed to take shelter Wednesday afternoon ahead of the storm’s anticipated landfall in the evening.

The storm brought destructive tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge, hours before it was expected to make landfall.

Nearly 300,000 customers were without power across the Sunshine State, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.US .

While Milton’s intensity continues to fluctuate, weakening to a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center predicts it will be “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida”.

Federal and state officials have urged those in Milton’s path to evacuate to avoid “catastrophic” winds, up to 18in rainfall and up to 15ft of storm surge, before the major hurricane slams into Florida’s west-central coast.

Vice President Kamala Harris warned that even the toughest Floridians won’t weather the “historic” hurricane, she said on The Late Show on Tuesday night.

Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche told CNN on Wednesday that officers will stay on the streets until Milton’s winds top 45mph.

“If people need help, we’re not going to be able to come to them,” he said.