Hurricane Milton hurled rain, tornadoes and tropical storm-force winds at the U.S. coast Wednesday on the storm's steady, potentially catastrophic march toward Florida, where officials issued a final plea to residents to evacuate or face grim odds of survival. The National Hurricane Center stressed that it was not certain where Milton’s center would come ashore Wednesday night because the storm's path might “wobble,” but the entire Tampa Bay region and points south were at grave risk. Tropical storm-force winds began lashing the coast Wednesday afternoon. “This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. “Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.” Milton, which has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida, was a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. It was expected to remain a hurricane after hitting land and plowing across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through Thursday. Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bull's-eye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century. Residents should not feel relief because of indications Milton might come ashore south of Tampa, Perkins said: “Everybody in Tampa Bay should assume we are going to be ground zero." Milton threatened communitiesstill reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and left at least 230 people dead across the South. In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge could toss it around and compound any damage. With the storm weaker but growing in size, the surge was projected to reach as high as 12 feet (3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay and up to 13 feet (4 meters) farther south, between Sarasota and Fort Myers. Mary Ann Fairman, 84, was among roughly 1,000 people at a shelter in West Bradenton. She stayed home during Helene but packed up blankets, snacks and toiletries and left this time. “The Gulf is practically in our backyard,” she said. In Pasco County, home to over half a million people in bedroom communities for Tampa and St. Petersburg, officials said shortly before noon that they were getting ready to take buses off the road. “This is your last chance if you need to get to a shelter,” they said in a statement. “After that, you’ll need to find a way to the shelter or be prepared to ride out the storm.” The famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans the mouth of Tampa Bay, closed around midday. Other major bridges also closed. At a news conference in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis described deployment of a wide range of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other states; over 50,000 utility workers from as far as California; and highway patrol cars with sirens to escort gasoline tankers to replenish supplies so people could fill up their tanks before evacuating. “Unfortunately, there will be fatalities. I don’t think there’s any way around that,” DeSantis said. Milton was centered about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Tampa on Wednesday afternoon and had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (209 kph), the hurricane center reported. It was moving northeast at 16 mph (26 kph). Heavy rain and tornadoes lashed parts of southern Florida starting Wednesday morning, with conditions deteriorating. Six to 12 inches (15 to 31 centimeters) of rain, with up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) in some places, was expected well inland, bringing the risk of catastrophic flooding. One twister touched down Wednesday morning in the lightly populated Everglades and crossed Interstate 75. Another apparent tornado touched down in Fort Myers, snapping tree limbs and tearing a gas station's canopy to shreds. Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties with a total population of about 7.2 million people. Officials warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, because first responders were not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.