Hurricane Milton strengthened into a dangerously powerful hurricane on a path toward Florida population centers, threatening a 12-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.

Communities from the Tampa Bay area to Sarasota and Southwest Florida could be where Milton makes landfall midweek.

Hurricane Milton was barreling across the Gulf of Mexico as a powerful Category 5 storm on a path toward Tampa.