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By Christopher Wells

Millions of people in central Florida are in the path of Hurricane Milton, set to become the second major hurricane to hit the United States in under two weeks.

Milton is expected to make landfall near the city of Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, prompting widespread evacuations affecting millions of people in the path of the storm.

'You should evacuate now, now, now'

“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century,” US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, as he outlined the government’s response to the hurricane.

“Most importantly,” he said, “I’ve urged everyone in Hurricane Milton’s path to listen to local officials and to follow safety instructions… 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 and that’s not hyperbole. It’s a matter of life and death.”

As of Wednesday morning, Milton had sustained winds of over 250 kilometres per hour, making it a category 5 hurricane – the highest rating on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Wind speeds could drop, but the storm is growing, exposing more coastal regions to danger.

Meteorologists say the storm could hit Florida as a category-4 hurricane, with storm surges of 3 metres or more and localized rain of up to 40 centimetres.

Millions of people have been fleeing the area, leading to clogged highways as vehicles have run out of gas along evacuation routes. The Tampa Bay area is home to more than three million people, with millions more across the width of the state of Florida directly in the path of the hurricane.

Hundreds dead and missing following Hurricane Helene

Milton is the second hurricane to hit the mainland United States in the past two weeks. Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on the evening of September 26 with maximum sustained winds of 220 kph.

Catastrophic rainfall caused by the storm resulted in flooding throughout the American southeast, with western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwest Virginia being particularly hard hit.

The storm caused widespread damage and led to more than 200 deaths, with more than 600 people still missing.