The National Weather Service (NWS) in Miami has issued a tornado watch and several tornado warnings for parts of Florida as Hurricane Milton rapidly approaches west-central Florida.
The US National Hurricane Center described Milton as a 'catastrophic' and 'dangerous' major hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 kph), putting it at the highest level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
The storm is forecast to cross central Florida Thursday morning and to dump as much as 18 inches of rain while heading toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Milton, which returned to Category 5 status on Tuesday afternoon, is threatening the Tampa Bay area, which is home to more than 3.3 million people and has managed to evade a direct hit from a major hurricane for more than 100 years.
