Highways grew clogged, gas stations were running out of fuel and stores were stripped of necessities as Hurricane Milton roared toward Florida's beleaguered west coast on Wednesday, a "catastrophic" behemoth on a collision course with one of the state's most densely populated areas.

Hurricane Milton remains a ferocious storm that could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the populous region with towering storm surges and turning debris from