Hurricane Milton live tracker: storm nears Florida [Video]

Hurricane Milton is a storm forecast to bring extreme flooding, high winds and heavy rain to the central west coast of Florida.

The storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Residents in its path have been told to evacuate the area or risk facing deadly conditions.

Follow along for live updates throughout the day.

5:25 p.m. EDT: Milton remains on course for Wednesday landfall

As of 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Hurricane Milton was centered about 60 miles (100 kilometres) west-southwest of Sarasota, Florida, and had maximum sustained winds of 120 m.p.h. (195 km/h), the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.

The Category 3 storm was moving northeast at 17 m.p.h. (28 km/h).

By David Fischer from The Associated Press

5:10 p.m. EDT: Life-threatening winds

Devastating winds are expected along portions of Florida’s west coast within the hurricane warning area, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states.

“Life-threatening hurricane-force winds, especially in gusts, are expected to spread inland across the peninsula and to portions of …