MIAMI (AP) — People across Florida were given notice Sunday that Hurricane Milton is expected to intensify rapidly into a major hurricane before slamming midweek into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.
While forecast models vary widely, the most likely path suggests Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida into the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said. That would largely spare other southeastern states ravaged by Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalachian mountains and a death toll that rose Sunday to 230 people.