Hurricane Milton on path for Florida landfall as a potentially historic major storm

Hurricane Milton restrengthened into a powerful Category 5 storm Tuesday evening as it barreled across the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters on a path for the west coast of Florida, where mass evacuations clogged highways as people prepared for a potentially historic storm to make landfall as early as Wednesday night.

Some communities, like those in and around the Tampa Bay area, were still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.

“Fluctuations in intensity are likely while Milton moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but Milton is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida Wednesday night.” the National Hurricane Center said.