When will Hurricane Milton hit Florida?

A database, external from Noaa shows that at least 40 storms in the Atlantic have reached category-five status since 1924, though only four have actually hit land at that strength. Here are some of the most damaging:

Hurricane Camille

Camille crashed into Mississippi in 1969, producing a peak storm surge of 24ft and destroying almost everything along the coast.

It killed 259 people, most of them in Virginia, and caused about $1.4bn (£1.06bn) in damage.

Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew decimated southern Florida in 1992 with sustained wind speeds of up to 165mph and gusts as high as 174mph.

It claimed 26 lives directly and was blamed for dozens of other deaths. After causing $30bn in damage, it was considered the costliest natural disaster in US history at the time.

Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael slammed into Florida in 2018 with 160mph wind speeds and was the strongest storm to make landfall in the Sunshine State.

At least 74 deaths were attributed to the storm – 59 in the US and 15 in Central America – and Michael caused an estimated $25.1bn in damage.

Lower-category storms

Milton comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the US as a category-four storm, killing more than 200 people and becoming the deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.