Hurricane Milton makes landfall, slamming into Florida with , catastrophic storm surge

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds on Wednesday, slamming into Florida's west coast before churning its way eastward across the center of the state.

The catastrophic landfall follows barely two weeks after Hurricane Helene, which battered Florida before causing devastation in North Carolina. Florida residents have spent the interim boarding up windows and evacuating their homes in preparation for Milton.

"Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida," the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.

The storm is expected to pass over Florida and into the Atlantic through Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.