Milton has rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane as Florida gears up for what could be its biggest evacuation in seven years.
The major hurricane is moving over the Gulf of Mexico and is headed toward population centers including Tampa and Orlando.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday that Milton has maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and that dangerous storm surge is possible in Florida.
Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida to the Atlantic Ocean.
