See: Florida braces for the killer storm of the century

People fill bags with sand at a local park in preparation for Hurricane Milton on October 9, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. Milton, which came just after the catastrophic hurricane Helene, has strengthened to a Category 5 storm as it approaches Florida's central Gulf Coast and is expected to land midweek.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects Milton to land as an "extremely dangerous major hurricane" late on Wednesday night or early on Thursday morning, local time.

As the second massive hurricane in as many weeks rumbled toward the US state's west coast, a sense of looming catastrophe spread as people raced to board up homes and flee. Above, people visit the beach as storm clouds hang past overhead before Hurricane Milton arrives in Fort Myers, Florida.

"It's a matter of life and death, and that's not hyperbole," President Joe Biden said, urging those under orders to vacate to "evacuate now, now, now." Biden's warning came amid a bitter pre-election quarrel, with his Democratic vice president Kamala Harris castigating her rival, Donald Trump, for peddling false claims that recovery efforts after the first storm, Hurricane Helene, were diverted away from Republicans. Above, Salvador Gonzalez (L) and Jorge Leon place plywood over the windows of a business before Hurricane Milton's arrival on October 9, 2024, in Fort Myers, Florida.

Residents of the Apopka area filled bags to protect their homes from possible flooding before Hurricane Milton arrived in Orlando, Florida, on October 9, 2024.

Tampa looks deserted as residents prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Milton on October 09, 2024 in Tampa, Florida.

A resident secures aluminium shutters across windows in Dunedin ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall tonight, October 9, 2024, in Florida.

Transist American Services workers dismantle rail crossing bars in in Kissimmee, Florida.

Employees of a local store are protecting their business by boarding up glass doors in Kissimmee, Florida, ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall.

Empty shelves are seen in the drinks aisle of a store as people prepare before Hurricane Milton's arrival.

People fill up gas containers at a station ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall in Lakeland, Florida.

Parts of the city are mostly empty as Hurricane Milton approaches in Tampa, Florida.