By Leonora LaPeter Anton and Brad Brooks ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) -An expanding Hurricane Milton closed in on Florida's west coast on Wednesday, spawning tornados and lashing the region with rain and wind hours ahead of its expected landfall near Tampa Bay,

Milton was expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday. The Tampa Bay region could face a direct hit, but the exact path of the storm remains unclear.

Fearful Florida residents are streaming out of the Tampa Bay region ahead of what could be a once-in-a-century direct hit from Hurricane Milton