Hours before Hurricane Milton was set to make landfall, thousands had already fled Sarasota, the Gulf Coast county that could be at or near ground zero for the storm’s furious march across Florida.

Hurricane Milton’s impending arrival along Florida’s west coast could get captured on various beach cameras along the Suncoast. However, local cameras in Manatee and Sarasota — the areas projected for direct landfall late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning — may go offline if the cameras have power and internet outages.

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Sarasota County around 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane. Just hours earlier, 7News spoke with residents on Florida's Gulf Coast as they got set to "hunker down" and ride out the storm.