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,

Life-threatening storm surges are due to hit Florida's Gulf Coast this week with the arrival of Hurricane Milton, which is strengthening over the southern Gulf of Mexico and set to make landfall as a powerful Category 3 storm on Wednesday.

Milton is expected to make landfall on the Gulf side of Florida by the middle of the week. Currently, maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 mph with higher gusts. Milton is forecast to rapidly intensify during the next couple of days and become a major hurricane on Monday.