Incredible NASA time-lapse video taken from ABOVE the eye of monster Hurricane Milton as it hurtles towards Florida

An incredible NASA time-lapse video taken from above the eye of monster Hurricane Milton shows the massive storm hurtling towards Florida. 

The footage, which was shot by an astronaut, illustrates the hurricane's enormous size as it barrels towards the US coast, threatening a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St Petersburg in Florida.

One social media user said Hurricane Milton from above resembled the fictional storm system which threw the world into chaos in the film Day After Tomorrow. 

In Florida, terrified residents are rushing to safety after local officials issued a stark warning overnight advising residents to 'flee or die' before the monster storm packs furious winds and gushes walls of water inland tomorrow.

Drivers are sitting in standstill traffic this morning as the state's major highways are clogged with miles-long lines of cars trying to flee the line of danger. 

Traffic is jammed both north and southbound as locals seek shelter out-of-state and in Miami.

The window has also nearly closed for people to escape the region by plane as airports in Tampa, St Petersburg and Orlando have already started grounding flights.

Residents who have accepted they won't be able to flee and are preparing to hunker down, have begun panic buying supplies, stripping store shelves of bottled water, toilet paper and other household necessities.

Those who are still desperate to escape and follow evacuation orders say it may be too 'dangerous' to hit the roads because local gas stations have run out of fuel. 

However, Governor Ron DeSantis this morning assured residents that there's enough fuel for them to get away from the storm.

Milton was so strong overnight that experts called for it to be given unprecedented Category 6 status, however the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 4 early this morning. 

Forecasters warn Milton is 'expected to grow in size' and remain 'an extremely dangerous hurricane' when it makes landfall tomorrow.

Milton expanded this morning as it hurtled over the Gulf of Mexico towards Tampa - making it potentially 'one of the most destructive hurricanes on record' for west-central Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane's 155mph winds are becoming more wide-reaching from the center of the storm - vastly increasing its capacity to cause widespread destruction.

Milton's gales extended around 80 miles from the eye of the storm through Monday, and this increased to just over 100 miles by Wednesday morning.

'Milton is still a relatively compact hurricane, but the wind field is expected to continue to grow in size as it approaches Florida,' the National Hurricane Center said. 

'In fact, the official forecast shows the hurricane and tropical-storm-force winds roughly doubling in size by the time it makes landfall.'

The storm center is expected to come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area, which has not endured a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century. 

Mayor Jane Castor issued a stark warning to residents yesterday that if they don't evacuate, 'you are going to die'. 

Locals have taken to social media, detailing their fears as they struggle to evacuate from communities located in Milton's expected direct path.

Sharing drone footage of clogged traffic along I-75 between Morris Bridge and Bruce B Downs on Monday, one X user said: 'This is why a lot of people are staying behind, at a certain point traffic is so bad you cannot get out of Florida, or there's no gas. So you're stuck outside of Gainesville.'

But DeSantis tried to ease fears this morning, saying during a press conference: 'There is no fuel shortage. Fuel continues to arrive in the state of Florida.'