Airlines cancel flights, airports close as Hurricane Milton nears Florida

Storm-battered Florida braced for a direct hit from Hurricane Milton which strengthened back to a Category 5 storm Tuesday, as US President Joe Biden begged residents to flee what he warned could be the worst natural disaster to hit the state in a century. As the second huge hurricane in as many weeks rumbled toward Florida's west coast, a sense of looming catastrophe spread as people raced to board up homes and flee.

"It's a matter of life and death, and that's not hyperbole," Biden said from the White House, urging those under orders to leave to "evacuate now, now, now."

Biden's warning came amid a bitter pre-election quarrel, with his Democratic vice president Kamala Harris castigating her rival Donald Trump for peddling false claims that recovery efforts after the first storm, Hurricane Helene, were diverted away from Republicans.