Dangerous Milton continues to cross Florida bringing damaging winds, flash flooding and severe weather

Milton finally breaches the West Coast of Florida, and weather will continue threatening lives across the Florida Peninsula.

Florida Power & Light and Lee County Electric Cooperative are preparing for widespread outages as Milton comes closer to the west coast.FPL Spokesperson Mike Mazur (Mazer) says that the company is equipped for the large number of outages with a workforce of around 17,000 on standby.

Milton continues to be a very powerful hurricane. It will make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday. A tornado is forming within rain bands.

A steady line of cars and trucks pulled up to the emergency shelter at Hertz Arena in Estero in advance of Hurricane Milton. Lee County said on Wednesday morning that shelters had plenty of spaces for people.

Milton continues as a very powerful hurricane, track still shifting, residents along the path should be in an evacuation shelter or sheltered in place.

As Hurricane Milton advances, emergency preparedness is crucial. In the event that calls fail to connect, satellite emergency text services will be available for google Pixel 9 and iPhone models 14 and up.

Sarasota should monitor Milton's track closely. Milton could come ashore a bit more south than previously forecast.

As the region prepares for Hurricane Milton to make landfall along the Gulf Coast, it is important to know the difference between pre-storm evacuation centers/shelters and post-storm shelters.Evacuation centers/shelters provide a place to stay for those who don’t feel safe in their own homes; for people who are displaced and those living in a mandatory evacuation zone.

On Monday, Lee County Public Safety Director Ben Abes announced mandatory evacuations for everyone living in Zones A & B. It is imperative to heed this order as soon as possible, rather than putting it off to the last minute.