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

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in parts of over a dozen Florida counties: Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Flagler, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, St. Johns and Volusia.

"If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you're asked to leave by your local officials, please do that," Michael Brennan, the director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. "You don't have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one's home."

Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days’ worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.

President Joe Biden spoke to local officials from Clearwater and Pinellas County, Florida, Tuesday night to talk about the "ongoing preparations for Hurricane Milton," the White House said.

The president told Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector and Pinellas County Chairwoman Kathleen Peters "to call him directly if they need additional assistance on response and recovery efforts," the White House added.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

"We're approaching that 11th hour," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Wednesday as the Tampa Bay area prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Milton.

"My message is simple," Chronister said in a video posted to the department's X page. "If you need to get someplace safe for whatever reason, the time to do so is now."

"If you need to get to a shelter, do so immediately," the department wrote alongside the video.

The wider Tampa area is projected to experience storm surge of up to 15 feet and wind gusts of over 100 mph when Milton makes landfall on Wednesday night.

Hurricane Milton is heading toward west-central Florida as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds. Landfall is expected between 8:30 and 10 p.m. ET

The storm is about 35 miles west-southeast of Sarasota and moving at 15 mph.

The latest storm surge forecast is nine to 13 feet for Sarasota, six to nine feet for Tampa and eight to 12 feet for Fort Myers.

Widespread heavy rain is impacting much of the Florida peninsula with tropical storm-force winds spreading inland.

A recent wind gust of 68 miles per hour was reported in Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

There have been at least 26 reported tornadoes across the Florida peninsula so far today with the majority of them across South Florida. Multiple tornadoes have been confirmed in South Florida so far, including the Miami-Dade area.

The tornado threat continues with several tornado warnings currently in effect across the eastern Florida peninsula, from west of West Palm Beach to just southeast of Orlando.