'Catastrophic' hurricane heads to Florida

WASHINGTON — Hurricane Milton tore toward the Gulf Coast on Wednesday, leaving residents with one final day to evacuate or hunker down before the "catastrophic" storm is predicted to hit, triggering a life-threatening storm surge.

With more than 1 million people in coastal areas under evacuation orders, those fleeing to higher ground clogged highways on Tuesday, and gas stations ran out of fuel in a region still recovering from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.

The storm was on a collision course for the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people, though forecasters said the path could vary before the storm makes landfall late Wednesday night or early Thursday.