TAMPA, Fla. − Highways grew clogged, gas stations were running out of fuel and stores were stripped of necessities as Hurricane Milton roared toward Florida’s beleaguered west coast on Wednesday, a “catastrophic” behemoth on a collision course with one of the state’s most densely populated areas.

Millions of storm-weary Floridians have been ordered or urged to flee, and time was running out. The center of Milton, now a Category 4 storm driving sustained winds of 155 mph, was forecast to move across the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 a.m. update.

“Historic, catastrophic, life-threatening – all those words summarize the situation,” said Austen Flannery, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Tampa.

The storm was on a track to cut across the Florida Peninsula and head into the Atlantic Ocean later Thursday. Milton, expected to retain hurricane status as it moves across the state, is targeting Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene blasted ashore on Florida’s Big Bend coast, a Category 4 storm that has left much of Florida battered and vulnerable before devastating the Carolinas.

Tampa, with a metropolitan area that is home to over 3 million people, has not had a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than 100 years. Storm surge from Milton could drive water levels up to 12 feet above ground, the hurricane center said.

“Milton is expected to remain an extremely dangerous, major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida” despite wind shear that was expected to produce modest weakening, the hurricane center said in its forecast

Hurricane Milton tracker:Follow the latest path of the storm

Developments

∎ Early Wednesday, Milton was 250 miles soutwest of Tampa, heading northeast at 16 mph, the hurricane center reported.

∎ Rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches, with localized totals up to 18 inches, are expected across central to northern portions of the Florida Peninsula through Thursday.

∎ The National Guard was deploying aerial, water, and ground search and rescue teams, the largest Guard search and rescue mobilization in Florida history, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

∎ About 2.8% of U.S. gross domestic product is in the direct path of Milton, said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. Airlines, energy firms and a Universal Studios theme park were among the companies beginning to halt their Florida operations as they braced for disruptions.

When and where will Hurricane Milton make landfall?

An area of heavy rain was spreading across portions of southwestern and west-central Florida ahead of Milton on Thursday, and the hurricane center warned “weather conditions will steadily deteriorate” across much of the Florida Gulf Coast throughout the day. Landfall “is likely to occur late tonight or early Thursday morning,” the hurricane center said in an 8 a.m. discussion. The forecast has “nudged a little to the north” in recent hours, but the hurricane center cautioned against focusing on the exact landfall point because the average error at 24 hours is about 40 miles.

AccuWeather estimated landfall at 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. “within a dozen miles of the islands at the mouth of Tampa Bay” as a major hurricane.

Watch Hurricane Milton live cameras:Storm approaching Florida

Milton’s size could mean more than wind speed

Milton may wobble between a Category 4 and Cat 5 hurricane, but forecasters say that ranking doesn’t capture the storm’s true potential. The scale that ranks hurricanes – officially known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale – is a rating based on maximum sustained wind speed, which ranges from 74 to 157 mph, or higher. The scale does not take into account potentially deadly hurricane hazards such as storm surge, rainfall, river flooding and tornadoes.

In Milton’s case, experts are focusing their concerns on the storm’s growing size and potential for massive storm surge along populated areas − two of the things that don’t factor into category rankings. The situation was slightly different with recent Hurricane Helene, where the storm’s winds were a bigger concern as it made landfall in a less populated area with lots of trees and vulnerable structures.

Milton winds peaked Monday evening as one of the top 5 strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record with sustained winds of 180 mph. Though the winds have eased modestly, the storm has grown in size.

“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the National Hurricane Center warned.

− Doyle Rice

What category is Hurricane Milton?Florida has bigger worries than that.

FEMA warns: ‘Avoid spreading false information’

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said the agency is “prepared to respond and stands ready to support” Florida with resources requests.

“Hundreds of FEMA staff are on the ground in Florida supporting Helene recovery and coordinating with the state to prepare people for the next storm,” the agency said in a news release.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell pushed back against former President Donald Trump’s claims about Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, saying she was disappointed in the misinformation he was spreading. FEMA was forced to address misinformation on its webpage and social media platforms after Trump spread claims about hurricane relief efforts, including allegations that there are “no helicopters, no rescue” in North Carolina and that the federal government is only giving $750 to those who have lost their homes.

— Saman Shafiq

Price gouging complaints in Florida as Milton approaches

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has received more than 200 complaints about price gouging as many thousands of residents prepared to evacuate from Hurricane Milton. As of Monday, most complaints are about fuel and water, said Kylie Mason, Moody’s spokesperson. The top three counties for complaints are Highlands, Hillsborough and Pinellas. There were also scattered instances involving overnight accommodations, including one Airbnb listing of a “room in Tallahassee” for nearly $6,000 a night.

“Our team already reached out to our (Airbnb) corporate contact and tracked down the owner,” Mason said. “We are sharing a copy of the price gouging statute … and making them aware of their legal responsibility.”

− Ana Goñi-Lessan, Tallahassee Democrat

Contributing: Reuters