Tornadoes spotted in Florida as Hurricane Milton approaches landfall: See photos, video
The hurricane is expected to make landfall either late Wednesday or early Thursday as residents prepare for an extremely catastrophic hurricane.
Tornadoes have popped up across Florida on Wednesday as Hurricane Milton is on a collision course with the state.
As of Wednesday, the Category 4 hurricane had sustained winds of 130 mph and was expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center. But residents in the Sunshine State were beginning to feel effects by Wednesday afternoon.
More than 17 million people were under tornado watches, and the National Weather Service in Miami said on social media it had "up to 4 visually confirmed tornadoes today" with unofficial reports of others.
The tornadoes come as the state braces for widespread damage from Milton.
“Historic, catastrophic, life-threatening – all those words summarize the situation,” said Austen Flannery, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Tampa.
Live hurricane updates: Milton spinning up tornadoes as storm moves closer to Florida
Photos and videos show tornadoes hitting Florida
A funnel cloud was spotted near Port Mayaca, which sits along the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee in the south-central part of the state.
Photos from along I-75 in Florida show tornadoes forming along the interstate as Hurricane Milton approaches the state.
Hurricane Milton Tracker
Contributing: John Bacon and Trevor Hughes
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.