Twenty-eight patients were at the hospital on Tuesday, and are moving to other local hospitals by Coastal Ambulance vehicles.

The storm shutters are up at Stephen Johnson’s house near the water in North Fort Myers, Fla. He has extra food and water for his 65-year-old mother and their two dogs and two cats. But Jones won’t be home when Hurricane Milton is expected to thunder ashore this week along the Gulf Coast.

Milton slammed into Florida's already storm-blasted coast Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane threatening huge swaths of Tampa Bay, Sarasota and regions still reeling from the destruction of Helene.

During Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago, Tampa General deployed an “aquafence” that prevented storm-surge flooding. The same barrier will be resurrected for Milton and can

Hurricane Milton churned Wednesday toward a potentially catastrophic collision along the west coast of Florida, where some residents insisted they would stay after millions were ordered to evacuate and officials warned that stragglers would face grim odds of surviving.

By Brad Brooks and Leonara LaPeter Anton ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) -Hurricane Milton marched across central Florida on Thursday after making landfall on the state's west coast hours earlier, whipping up deadly tornadoes,