Hurricane Milton updates: 16 dead across Florida in storm's aftermath

Hurricane Milton is around 300 miles southwest of Tampa as Florida braces for impact between 9 p.m. ET and midnight on Wednesday.

Milton regained Category 5 status with 165 mph winds on Tuesday, becoming the strongest Atlantic hurricane so late in the calendar year since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Landfall is projected just south of Tampa, possibly near Sarasota. Milton is expected to make landfall as a high end Category 3 hurricane with winds of around 125 mph -- shy of Category 4 which begins at 130 mph.

The Tampa Bay area is expected to experience strong wind gusts of over 100 mph during landfall, with wind gusts of more than 74 mph possible even on the east coast of Florida around Cape Canaveral.

Hurricane warnings have been issued for the east and west coast of Florida, with tropical storm warnings issued as far south as Miami and the Florida Keys.

Milton's storm surge poses the most significant threat. Tampa Bay and Fort Myers are expecting record breaking storm surge of up to 15 and 12 feet, respectively.

Heavy rain is expected to bring flash flooding. As many as 18 inches of rain is possible from Tampa to Orlando, and in parts of central Florida.

-ABC News' Max Golembo

Hurricane Milton was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds close to 160 mph as of 1 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center's latest update. The storm is in the Gulf of Mexico moving northeast towards Florida at around 12 mph.

The storm is expected to make landfall along Florida's west-central coast as a Category 3 storm late Wednesday or early Thursday, subsequently moving off the east coast of Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday afternoon.

"Milton is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida," the NHC said early Wednesday. "Weather conditions are expected to begin deteriorating this afternoon."

Hurricane-force winds extend outward from Milton's center to around 30 miles, with tropical-storm-force extending out to 140 miles.

Officials in St. Petersburg issued a public safety advisory Tuesday for residents and businesses near tower cranes ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall in Florida.

Due to anticipated wind gusts from the storm exceeding 100 mph, the high winds could potentially exceed the safe operational limits for tower cranes and pose a risk of malfunction, the city said in a press release.

"Lowering or securing a tower crane is scheduled weeks in advance and is not a feasible option within the timeframe of an approaching storm due to the rapid intensification and forecasted path," the city said.

The four construction sites of "particular concern" are 400 Central Ave. (downtown), 275 1st Ave. S (downtown) 1000 1st Ave. N (downtown) and 101 Main St. N (Carillon), according to the city.

Ahead of Hurricane Milton's impact, the mayor of Bradenton, Florida, joined ABC News Live Tuesday to issue a grave warning to residents who are not planning to evacuate.

"Get out of these areas because we can replace your home, we can't replace your life," Mayor Gene Brown said. "And we don't want to be finding bodies floating in rivers -- and we've seen that before," he added.

Bradenton lies on the west coast of Florida, sitting in the middle of the forecast path for Hurricane Milton, which is forecast to make landfall between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Brown added that a local sheriff is advising those who do not evacuate to "Write your name on your arm so we can identify you. We're all talking the same way," Brown said.