Floridians warned ‘you are going to die’ if they don’t evacuate as Milton nears

More than a million people told to evacuate as category 4 storm projected to hit Tampa Bay region by Wednesday

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Florida's western coast was making emergency preparations on Tuesday for the impact of Hurricane Milton, with thousands of evacuees clogging highways, contending with fuel shortages, and the mayor of Tampa warning residents bluntly you are going to die" if they stayed behind.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Milton would retain major hurricane status and expand in size" as it approached Florida after passing the Mexican city of Merida before swerving north towards the US.