Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane Monday on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations.

Hurricane Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane Monday on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous 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.

Officials said they are preparing for the largest evacuation since Hurricane Irma in 2017 when about 7 million Floridians left their homes.

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    2•1 day ago

    I hold a lot of sympathy and empathy for those just trying to live their lives. We as a collective community are not doing enough fast enough and we need better leadership in place that will bite the bullet here and make the hard political decisions that need to be made.

    Forty years and counting.