Florida residents continue to prepare to protect their homes as Hurricane Milton heads toward the Sunshine State this week, with life-threatening conditions expected Wednesday into Thursday.
Milton regained Category 5 storm strength Tuesday evening, just one day after becoming one of the strongest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic Basin.
As of 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, Milton was moving east-northeast between Mexico and Cuba, packing winds of up to 165 mph.
The forecast cone says Milton is expected to make landfall between Fort Myers and Tampa, Florida, by Thursday morning, by which time winds are expected to have weakened to about 195 mph. fox weather.
Floridians prepare for the worst as Hurricane Milton rapidly approaches
In Hillsborough County, Florida, residents are filling sandbags ahead of Hurricane Milton. (Hillsborough County Sheriff)
As the storm continued toward Florida's west coast, residents posted videos showing what they were experiencing as they prepared for Milton's arrival.
Video from Hillsborough County showed residents filling sandbags to protect property from the rushing water.
Video shows a truck backing up to dump sand, followed by residents filling bags with shovels and bare hands.
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A Costco in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had several bare shelves in the back of the store where water and toilet paper are usually stocked. (@DuttyCoombs / X)
Another video taken inside a Costco store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, showed several empty shelves behind large boxes. The man who filmed the video, X user @DuttyCoombs, can be heard saying there is no water or toilet paper.
“That's the back aisle of Costco, dude,” he said. “There's no toilet paper. There's nothing. There's no water. There's no water. There's nothing to drink, sir.”
At another mass retailer in Fort Myers, an elevated Target parking lot was reportedly filled with RVs, EVs and boats, according to video taken Monday night.
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Hurricane Milton is swirling in the Gulf of Mexico, gaining strength and hurtling toward Florida. (Fox News)
Milton is expected to bring deadly storm surge, damaging winds, and heavy rain. FOX Weather reported. Forecasters warned that storm surge of 10 to 15 feet high was possible in Tampa Bay. This is the highest storm surge ever predicted for that location, and evacuation orders have been issued for entire coastal communities.
The storm could also cause widespread flooding, with 5 inches to 1 foot of rain expected on the Florida peninsula, with up to 18 inches possible in some places.
Approximately 5.9 million people live in the 11 Florida counties under mandatory evacuation orders, according to county-level population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 51 of the state's 67 counties over the weekend.
President Biden on Monday approved the state's request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration, allowing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts and provide appropriate support for necessary emergency measures. It becomes like this.
Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias contributed to this report.
