U.S. forecasters are warning of destructive waves, devastating winds and flash floods through the week as Hurricane Milton makes its way from the Yucatan Peninsula toward Florida.
Milton is expected to grow in size and reach the west coast of Florida on Wednesday.
鈥淭his is an extremely life-threatening situation,鈥� reads the U.S. National Hurricane Center鈥檚 Tuesday morning advisory.
Follow along for live updates throughout the day.
7:35 a.m. EDT: Airlines affected
Tampa International Airport will suspend flights at 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday, staff wrote on social media.
"TPA is not a shelter for people or vehicles," reads the post. Parking lots will be closed.
Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Plant City airports, all of which are operated by the Hillsborough County authority, will close around the same time.
Orlando International Airport will close at 8 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.
Those closures are expected to affect scheduled flights to and from Canadian airports.
Toronto Pearson said it's monitoring the situation closely.
7 a.m. EDT: Satellite captures churning storm
Colorado State University's Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere has released overnight satellite imagery of Milton moving east.
6:35 a.m. EDT: Evacuations underway
Traffic data from Google Maps shows some congestion northbound on Interstate 75 north of Tampa. We saw images of heavy traffic on the highway late Monday as people moved out of flood zones.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said earlier that the state has suspended tolls and opened roadway shoulders to allow for increased volumes.
"You do not need to travel hundreds of miles from home to evacuate safely鈥攅very county has pet-friendly shelters, special needs shelters, and other options that are safe from storm surge," he said in a social media post.
Thirty-thousand hydro workers are being relocated from elsewhere in the U.S. to restore power in the storm's wake, he added.
6 a.m. EDT: Florida still cleaning up Helene
Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida in the Tampa Bay area, which is home to more than 3 million people.
The state's emergency management department has ordered .
Many are still cleaning up from Helene, the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. At least 230 people have been reported dead. On Florida's Gulf Coast, it destroyed homes, tore down trees and flooded communities.
5:15 a.m. EDT: Hurricane Milton path map
Federal forecasters say 鈥渄amaging hurricane-force winds and a life-threatening storm surge鈥� are expected across the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday.
In its 4 a.m. CDT (5 a.m. EDT) advisory, the National Hurricane Center located the eye of the storm northeast of Progreso, Mexico.
With files from The Associated Press
