Tampa residents frantically preparing for Hurricane Milton

Residents across Florida have been warned to "evacuate or die" as Hurricane Milton barrels towards the US East Coast.

The massive storm system is sitting at category four, but is expected to return to a more intense category five when it makes landfall in the next 48 hours.

Garrett Adams lives in Tampa and he told Today it was nerve-wracking knowing Milton was on its way just a fortnight after Hurricane Helene devastated the location.

Subscribe to the Today newsletter here. (Nine)Residents across Florida have been warned to "evacuate or die" as Hurricane Milton barrels towards the US East Coast. (NASA)

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"That ended up damaging a lot of the houses in the neighbourhood, but I'm holding up," he said.

"We're bunkering down the house today and we're leaving tomorrow morning."

After the devastation from Helene, Garrett said he and his neighbours are exhausted just trying to sort through all the debris before the next storm system strikes and they have to evacuate.

"We actually have a truck that's right down the street picking up a whole bunch of trash, but almost everybody lost everything in their house, all the furniture, drywall, everything's spread around the neighbourhood," he said.

"Our biggest fear right now is when this wind comes in, all that is going to go completely airborne and really start damaging, get thrown everywhere through windows.

"But it's not looking good because this truck is the last one for the night and I don't think we're going to get any of the debris out in time."

Garrett Adams lives in Tampa and he told Today it was nerve-wracking knowing Milton was on its way just a fortnight after Hurricane Helene devastated the location. (Today)A sculpture of Poseidon stands in the ocean before the arrival of Hurricane Milton in Progreso, Yucatan state, Mexico, Monday, October 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina)

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Most of Florida's west coast remains under a hurricane or tropical storm warning this morning as the system and its 240km/h winds spin just off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

The storm is creeping toward the Florida shore as it generates more energy from the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters.

"This is actually the first storm I've had to evacuate for," Garrett said.

"Luckily my house didn't get damaged in Helene, but all the neighbours were damaged, so it's just hard to see everything, everybody's leaving and taking what little they have left and just trying to get as far away as they can."

Hear the full chat with Garrett in the video above