Hurricane Milton made landfall at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday near Siesta Key on Florida's West Coast and is traveling across the state before it exits on Florida's East Coast on Thursday. Multiple suspected tornadoes touched down across the Treasure Coast,

Milton's structure began to change due to dry air and strong wind shear coming from the southwest. This caused Milton's wind speed to drop to 145 mph, still at a Category 4, and the official forecast has the winds dropping down to 125 mph, Category 3 strength, just before landfall.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, Florida the National Hurricane Center said.  Milton was a Category 5 hurricane late Tuesday but was downgraded to a Category 3 Wednesday afternoon after spending most of the day as a Category 4.

A Flash Flood Emergency, the highest level of flood warning, has been declared for the Tampa Bay area as Hurricane Milton slams into Florida.

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.

Milton is expected to remain a hurricane as it crosses the state Wednesday night, bringing with it hurricane conditions to the Treasure Coast.