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,

Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded the number of counties under a state of emergency, saying, "Milton will be at or near a catastrophic major hurricane upon landfall along the Florida West Coast, accompanied by life-threatening storm surge and severe wind gusts for the Florida Gulf Coast.

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.