Hurricane Milton growing in size as multiple tornadoes, damaging winds and rains approach Florida’s west coast

Hurricane Milton has been downgraded to a Category Three storm but authorities have warned the “catastrophic” event is gaining in size, threatening an ever larger area of the Florida coast with its 251km/h winds and dangerous rains.

An estimated 5.9 million people have been evacuated, however many have remained in the path of the storm.

Images from the area show locals and storm chases near dangerous ocean waters and standing in damaging winds.

Multiple tornadoes, rain, and wind are already lashing the region ahead of expected landfall near Tampa Bay, where Hurricane Milton could deliver a life-threatening surge of seawater to communities along the waterfront.

Waters are rising in some areas of Florida, with authorities warning locals levels could rise by 15ft (4.5 metres).

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall at 12.00pm AEDT (9.00am AWST).

Ferocious winds are picking up closer to the coast already.

US President Joe Biden has issued a fresh address to the nation, attacking Donald Trump for spreading misinformation about the “wort storm in a century”.

“I urge everyone in Hurricane Milton’s path to listen to the local officials and follow all the safety instructions they give,” he said.

“At this point, evacuations are probably difficult.

Mr Trump has been telling locals that the Biden administration will only provide $750 of assistance and that funds were being diverted to house undocumented immigrants.

“It’s un-American,” Mr Biden said.

“He needs to stop.”

It has been reported some locals have stayed in the path of the storm following Trump’s misinformation as they fear they will not receive sufficient federal support.

The fifth strong hurricane every record in the US comes just two weeks after Hurricane Helene cut a swath of devastation and killed over 200 people.

Authorities issued increasingly dire warnings on Wednesday as landfall drew closer telling locals if they stayed “you will die”.

For those who have not listened to the warnings, it is now “too late to evacuate”.

Videos posted on X show the winds of Hurricane Milton are causing a large crane to spin as it towers over buildings and homes in Tampa.

Michael Tylenda, who was visiting his son in Tampa, said he was heeding the advice from officials to evacuate.

“If anybody knows anything about Florida, when you don’t evacuate when you’re ordered to, you can pretty much die,” Tylenda said.

“The house can be replaced. The stuff can be replaced. It’s just better to get out of town.”

Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumaneyi told CNN that people who remain on the barrier islands in her county south of Tampa would likely not survive the projected 10 to 15-foot storm surge.

“If you choose to stay, make sure you have a life preserver handy,” she said.

The storm was on a collision course to hit the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than three million people.

At 3:00am AEDT, the eye of the storm was 306 km southwest of Tampa.

In Fort Myers, the damaging winds have been captured on CCTV.

Although Milton has been downgraded, it is still “an extremely dangerous major hurricane” with maximum sustained winds of 233 km/h, the National Hurricane Center said.

Milton is expected to maintain hurricane strength as it crossed the Florida peninsula, posing storm-surge danger on the state’s Atlantic Coast as well.

While wind speeds may drop further, the storm was growing in terms of the area affected by the surge and high winds.

The National Weather Service confirmed at least five tornadoes in South Florida had touched down by early afternoon.

The four bridges spanning Tampa Bay were closed before the storm was due to make landfall, according to the Florida 511 website. Nearly everyone who decided to flee appeared to have done so, as most streets in nearby St. Petersburg were nearly deserted by midday on Wednesday.

Most causeways connecting the Gulf barrier islands to the mainland were also shut, stranding any who decided to ride out the storm despite pleas from officials.

In the parking lot of a Walmart in south St. Petersburg Wednesday morning, Henry Henry waited in a black van to shuttle passengers to a Tampa shelter before Milton’s arrival. But no one showed up.

“I don’t believe people are waiting for the last moment today,” said Henry, as rain hammered the shuttle’s roof. “Most people have already evacuated. They are not waiting for it.”

In Orlando, many residents said they had confidently ridden out previous hurricanes but Milton’s rapid intensification and warnings from officials spurred them this time into taking unusual precautions for the inland city.

Jim Naginey, a 61-year-old homeless man who has lived there for nearly three decades, said he survived previous hurricanes on the streets. But he decided to seek shelter during Milton, joining scores of others in Colonial High School, where families huddled on the gym floor, munching on bananas and sandwiches and sipping water provided by Orange County.

“This one seems different,” Naginey said. “After seeing what happened last week in North Carolina, it seems that unexpected disaster can hit in places not used to it. That’s why I decided to seek shelter here.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urged residents to follow local officials’ safety recommendations at a White House briefing.

“It’s literally a matter of life and death,” Biden said.

Milton became the third-fastest intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic, growing from a Category 1 to a Category 5 in less than 24 hours.

- With Reuters