Hurricane Milton live updates as powerful storm approaches Florida landfall

The National Weather Service issued a warning Wednesday afternoon that it was time for residents to shelter in place as Hurricane Milton neared. Tropical-storm force winds, flooding rains and tornadoes were spreading inland across Florida, the weather service said, and unless a life-threatening situation arises, people should stay indoors.

National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said the hurricane is here: "I urge those in harm's way to continue heeding advice from local officials and please be safe!"

Hurricane Milton was downgraded to a Category 3 storm Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph as of 4 p.m. EDT, which the hurricane center still considers to be a major hurricane.

According to the National Hurricane Center, here are the watches and warnings in effect for Milton as of 2 p.m. EDT:

Storm surge warning

• Florida west coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay
• Sebastian Inlet, Florida, to Altamaha Sound, Georgia, including the St. Johns River

Hurricane warning

• Florida west coast from Bonita Beach northward to Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay
• Florida east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin county line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach

Hurricane watch

• Dry Tortugas
• Lake Okeechobee
• Florida west coast from Chokoloskee to south of Bonita Beach
• Florida east coast north of Ponte Vedra Beach to the mouth of the St. Marys River
• Florida east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin county line to the Palm Beach/Martin county line

Tropical storm warning

• Florida Keys, including Dry Tortugas and Florida Bay
• Lake Okeechobee
• Florida west coast from Flamingo to south of Bonita Beach
• Florida west coast from north of Suwanee River to Indian Pass
• Florida east coast south of the St. Lucie/Martin county line to Flamingo
• North of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to the Savannah River
• Extreme northwestern Bahamas, including Grand Bahama Island, the Abacos, and Bimini

Tropical storm watch

• North of the Savannah River to South Santee River, South Carolina

Milton caused a string of tornadic supercell storms to develop in Florida's southern peninsula Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said, and at least a handful appeared to actually produce tornadoes.

Images shared to social media by the National Weather Service in Miami captured one of the ominous twisters looming in the background after it crossed Interstate 75 at around 10 a.m. EDT.

The weather service shared another image of a "multi-vortex" tornado moving ashore from Lake Okeechobee less than two hours later.

Tornado warnings were ongoing across a large section of the state, and a tornado watch was issued through 9 p.m. for parts of South Florida and the Gulf Coast, including Fort Myers and Naples, CBS News Miami reported.

CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan said the latest forecast track shows Milton making landfall over or near Sarasota, Florida, Wednesday night between about 10 p.m. and midnight Eastern time. Milton is expected to be a Category 3 at the time, Nolan said, which would put its winds in the 111-129 mph range.

This radar loop from CBS Miami shows weather conditions from Hurricane Milton.

Floridians fleeing Hurricane Milton faced shortages at gas stations in addition to congested roads.

As of midday Wednesday, 24% of Florida's 7,912 gas stations were without fuel, according to data from GasBuddy, which tracks filling stations around the U.S.

"Best bets for motorists evacuating that need fuel: major travel stops have larger underground tanks and have more resources generally — trucks and drivers," tweeted Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "Or large chains as well that have many locations. Fuel is flowing but stations are having a hard time keeping up."

Read more here.

Hundreds of flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled as Milton barreled toward Florida's western coast.

Most of the cancellations were for flights to or from Florida, where some airports closed ahead of the hurricane.

Airlines announced they are issuing travel waivers to customers affected by Milton, as well as adding flights in an effort to help people who were trying to evacuate.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines have all issued waivers for travelers who had booked flights into or out of Florida airports. The waivers allow them to rebook their flights free of charge.

Read more here.

People fled the Tampa Bay area and parts of the surrounding region were under mandatory evacuation orders issued Monday and Tuesday.

But not everyone has complied with those directives.

"There will be fatalities," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday. "I don't think there's any way around that when you have 10 feet of storm surge. There are going to be people who stay behind, and they're going to be in distress."

Officials have set up 149 shelters across Florida that are open to the general population, with enough capacity to hold around 200,000, the governor said. But just 31,000 people were using those shelters as of Tuesday night.

Photos and videos taken from space show the breadth of Hurricane Milton.

Multiple timelapse videos taken by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick show the storm from the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Dominick is a flight engineer aboard the orbiting laboratory, which is attached to the International Space Station. In one post on social media, Dominick said that he had a view of the storm from the window in his sleeping quarters.

The timelapse he shared through that window on Wednesday morning showed the storm as it approached Florida's western coast. He noted that the storm looked even bigger than it had the day before.

See more here.

Milton is the quickest storm on record to rapidly intensify into a Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico, according to CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan. On Sunday, the system was a tropical storm with sustained winds of 60 mph. Just 24 hours later, the wind speeds had leapt to 175 mph, far above the Category 5 threshold of 157 mph.

Rapid intensification refers to a storm's wind speeds increasing by more than 58 mph in a 24-hour window. From 1980 to 2023, 177 Atlantic hurricanes that made landfall have rapidly intensified. About 80% of Category 3-5 hurricanes undergo this process.

Read more here.

Human-caused climate change is making it easier for hurricanes to rapidly intensify into more powerful storms, which often bring more coastal flooding and additional rainfall to areas miles from the coast, according to scientists.

Since April 2023, global sea surface temperatures have been hotter than any other period on record. Hotter oceans fuel stronger storms, and warmer sea surface temperatures amplify evaporation, transferring heat and water to the air, making hurricane winds stronger and increasing the rain they hold.

Waffle House announced that it had closed its locations in several areas ahead of Milton's projected landfall, citing the so-called Waffle House Index as a measure of the storm's severity. 

"These updated #whindex status maps reflect our closures as of 2PM this afternoon in advance of #HurricaneMilton. Please stay safe," Waffle House wrote in a social media post Wednesday morning.

In measuring the severity of a storm, the Waffle House Index has come to be a reliable indicator of whether a hurricane or other natural disaster is likely to cause significant damage. The chain of 1,600 restaurants notes that because its locations are primarily spread across Southern states and the Gulf Coast, they are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, yet it makes an effort to keep them open during all kinds of weather events.

Read more here.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday that the agency has a "layered approach" to staffing, along with being just one part of the federal government's support mechanisms, amid concerns about resources as the agency prepares for powerful Hurricane Milton as it barrels toward Florida shortly after the deadly Hurricane Helene.

"We're just one part of the team," Criswell said on "CBS Mornings" early Wednesday. "We bring in the whole federal family, the entire federal government to support the efforts that are going on across all of the states that have been impacted by the storm."

Debris from Helene, which made landfall on Sept. 26, is still on the ground in Florida as the state braces for Milton.

Read more here.

Walt Disney is joining other theme parks including SeaWorld and Universal that are closing before Hurricane Milton hits Florida.

Walt Disney parks in Orlando was slated to start shutting down in phases beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday, with its resorts likely to remain shuttered on Thursday, according to the company. A water park, miniature golf facilities and campgrounds will also be closed.

The Magic Kingdom's announcement came after United Parks and Resorts said it would close its Florida theme parks, including SeaWorld Orlando, on Wednesday and Thursday. Busch Gardens Tampa was closed as of Tuesday and will remain so through Thursday, United Parks said.

Read more here.

President Biden postponed a planned trip to Germany and Angloa to monitor the storm response.

"I've urged everyone, everyone currently located in Hurricane Milton's path to listen to local officials and follow safety instructions," Mr. Biden said Tuesday. "... If you're under evacuation orders, you should evacuate now, now, now — you should have already evacuated. It's a matter of life and death."

Mr. Biden said he preapproved emergency declarations in Florida and had sent FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to Florida on Monday. He also called on airlines and other companies to provide "as much service as possible to accommodate evacuations" and "not to engage in price gouging."

Read more here.