Hurricane Milton was continuing to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico and was forecast to become a major hurricane later Monday as it inched toward a midweek landfall along the west coast of Florida, where residents are still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Helene,

Milton increased to a Category 2 hurricane early Monday as Florida gears up for what could be its biggest evacuation in seven years as the storm heads toward major population centers including Tampa and Orlando.

Milton continued to grow stronger on Sunday as it rapidly intensified into a hurricane. The latest projections call for the storm to hit Category 4 in the open Gulf of Mexico before weakening slightly to a Category 3 as it approaches Florida’s west coast.