Life-threatening storm surges are expected to hit Florida's Gulf Coast this week with the arrival of Hurricane Milton, which was upgraded Monday afternoon into a Category 5 hurricane over the southern Gulf of Mexico. The storm is forecast to make landfall Wednesday evening in Florida, which along with the wider southeastern United States continues to recover from the impact of Hurricane Helene. Widespread evacuation orders are likely across Florida. As many as 15 million people are under flood watches across the Florida Peninsula and 11 million are at risk for tropical tornadoes tomorrow and Wednesday. St ate officials are stressing that people can leave without an order. “Have a plan, execute the plan,” DeSantis told the news conference. “You certainly can leave now. You don’t have to wait to get an evacuation order.” #hurricane #hurrricanemilton #hurricanemilton #florida #tampa #weather #news #breakingnews #warning #water