Thousands of evacuees clogged highways, residents struggled with fuel shortages and Tampa’s mayor warned that “you will die” if they stayed.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Hurricane Milton would remain a major hurricane and “expand in size” as it approached Florida after passing over the Mexican city of Mérida before turning north toward the US. On the night of October 7 (US time), the winds slowed slightly, before becoming an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm with speeds of 250 km/h. As of the afternoon of October 8, the storm had strengthened to a Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico.

With a life-threatening storm surge of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters), Milton has the potential to be “one of the most destructive storms on record for west-central Florida,” the NHC said. Residents should “prepare their families and homes” and evacuate if ordered.

Reinforcing homes and shops in preparation for Hurricane Milton in New Port Richey, Florida, October 8 (Photo: AP)

Meteorologists have warned that Milton could dump up to 380mm of rain, causing severe flash flooding . US President Joe Biden said Milton could be one of the worst storms to hit the country in 100 years. He advised residents to leave immediately because “it’s a matter of survival”.

The storm is expected to make landfall on the southwest coast of Florida on Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service said in its latest update, and could cause devastation in areas already reeling from Hurricane Helene nearly two weeks ago.

Nearly the entire west coast of Florida is under a hurricane warning , with more than 1 million people ordered to evacuate and power outages expected to last for days. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has warned residents to evacuate immediately.

Sandbags are prepared to respond to Hurricane Milton, October 8, in New Port Riche (Photo: AP)

President Joe Biden has canceled his trip to Angola and Germany to focus on responding to Hurricane Milton. Biden has approved Governor DeSantis’ request to declare a federal emergency for Hurricane Milton.

Local officials had raised concerns the day before about traffic jams and long lines at gas stations, and that household trash piled up on sidewalks after last week’s Hurricane Helene could become projectiles when high winds from Hurricane Milton hit.

Nearly one-fifth of Florida’s gas stations were out of fuel by the afternoon of October 8, according to the tracking website GasBuddy. Specifically, 17.4% of stations were out of fuel by 2 p.m. on October 8, up from 14.5% at the beginning of the day.

Cars travel out of Naples, Florida, towards Miami, October 8, as Hurricane Milton approaches (Photo: AFP)

Forecasters and officials are concerned that Milton could make landfall in the Tampa Bay area, home to more than 3 million people. The city of Tampa has not been directly hit by a major hurricane since 1921. Tampa’s mayor has issued a stern warning to residents as Milton churns through the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm on the 5-level warning scale, is expected to make landfall in Tampa, Florida, on October 9 (local time). With maximum winds near the storm’s center at 250 km/h, Milton is considered the worst storm to hit the city of 3 million people in more than 100 years.

About 7,000 federal workers have been deployed to help Florida deal with the storm, one of the largest federal mobilizations in history.