Forecasters are urging people in Florida to make preparations or leave their homes today, as the National Hurricane Center confirmed that Milton is a "catastrophic Category 5 hurricane" and will hit Florida later today or early tomorrow as a major storm.

Shelters were open in all 67 Florida counties, and authorities urged residents to evacuate. Milton is expected to make landfall Wednesday night.

Hurricane Milton has become a Category 5 storm—again—as it continues to move across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, where millions have been told to evacuate as forecasters warn it could be be “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record” for the west-central part of the state.