Hurricane Milton Live Tracker: Landfall Date And Time, Latest Updates And More About Category 5 Hurricane

Hurricane Milton closed in on the U.S. state of Florida as it re-intensified into a Category 5 storm, barrelling across the Gulf of Mexico. Milton, one of the strongest hurricanes in the region, is expected to hit Florida late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Millions of Floridians hurried to complete their storm preparations and evacuate areas prone to being hit. A Hurricane warning has been put in place for 28 counties in Florida.

Hurricane Milton imposes an "extremely life-threatening situation" on the western coast of Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center. It said that damaging winds and torrential rainfall would be extending well inland and outside the forecast zone.

On Monday, Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified to sustain a wind speed of 290 km per hour but dropped dramatically on Tuesday morning. Not long after, the hurricane regained its speed as winds hit 257 km/hr in the evening of the same day. The storm intensified from Category 1 to Category 5 within hours on Monday.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service expects Hurricane Milton to make landfall as an 'extremely dangerous hurricane' in the US state of Florida on Wednesday night, local time.

The core of the hurricane is expected to pass over west-central Florida and could strike near the city of Tampa.

Forecasters have warned of torrential rain, flash flooding, high winds and possible storm surges.

Over A Million People Face Evacuation

More than a million people living in the coastal areas are under evacuation orders. With hordes of Florida residents scrambling to escape Hurricane Milton, the highways were clogged, while gas stations ran out of fuel, the news agency added.

The numbers receiving evacuation orders were expected to climb as residents were recovering from the aftermath of Helene that struck the area less than two weeks ago. Of the 22 million people living in Florida, more than 20 million are under either hurricane or tropical storm warning.

About 28 counties in Florida are now under a hurricane warning ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival, according to the states Division of Emergency Management (FDEM).

President Joe Biden Cancels Overseas Trips

United States President Joe Biden has postponed a scheduled trip to Germany and Angola this week as the hurricane approached Florida. "I just don't think I can be out of the country at this time,” he said.

"This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century. God willing it won't be, but that's what it's looking like right now," Biden was quoted as telling reporters at the White House.

"You should evacuate now, now, now. You should have already evacuated. It's a matter of life and death, and that's not hyperbole," he said as he got a briefing on the storm.

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick took a timelapse video of the hurricane from onboard the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft showing the storm's tremendous size.

Here is the live tracker map (by windy.com), which shows the forecast for the next 48 hours.

Hurricane Milton was on a collision course for the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, which is home to over three million residents. The path of the storm could vary before it makes landfall Wednesday night, Reuters reported, quoting forecasters.

The hurricane is on a rare path, flowing from west-to-east through the Gulf of Mexico. It could cause a deadly storm surge of 10 feet or more to a major area of Florida's Gulf Coast.

“Milton is the fastest Atlantic hurricane to intensify from a tropical depression to a Category 5 Hurricane, taking just over 48 hours. This animation shows Milton as it intensified, with the heaviest rains (red) concentrated near the centre,” NASA said in a post on X on Tuesday.