Milton upgraded to hurricane — and it’s projected to batter Florida Gulf Coast as a deadly major storm

Milton is now a hurricane and is likely to make landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as devastating major storm with winds up to 125 mph.

Barely a week after Hurricane Helene ravaged Florida and tore a path through the southeast, Milton is the second storm is against threatening the Gulf Coast of the Sunshine state.

Storm surges and hurricane watches were expected to be announced for most of Florida on Sunday or Monday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Milton’s power is expected to continue growing into a major hurricane. Florida could see up to 15 inches of rainfall between Monday and Wednesday.

Milton has developed primarily over the Gulf of Mexico and is following a trajectory similar to last week’s Hurricane Helene, which killed over 200 people during its destructive trek from Florida to North Carolina. The Gulf has been unseasonably warm, which has pushed tropical storms developing over it to become hurricanes.

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Forecasters warning the tempest could intensify into another major hurricane before making landfall somewhere between the coastal cities of Clearwater and Fort Myers later this week, Fox Meteorologist Cody Braud told The Post. sometime around Tampa or Sarasota later this week.

“The storm is going to peak in intensity sometime Tuesday, near Category 4 strength,” Braud said, noting forecasters predict Milton will bring winds up up to 125 mph.

The National Hurricane Center also warned the storm was quickly turning into “an intense hurricane with multiple life-threatening hazards” that would impact portions of the west coast of Florida’s Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday.

Forecasters predict Milton will likely reach hurricane status with sustained winds of 74 mph by Sunday night, before becoming a Category 3 storm with winds of at least 111 mph in less than 72 hours.

Milton was churning about 800 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph while heading east at 7 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday.

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“The scope of the track is either just north of Tampa or as far south as Fort Myers,” Braud said. “They’re explicitly calling somewhere around Sarasota, or just south of Tampa Bay, but that is still subject to change.”

If the center of the storm falls north of Tampa Bay, the area will likely experience a “near catastrophic” storm surge with up to 10 feet of floodwaters, Braud said.

“Milton is moving slowly but is expected to strengthen rapidly,” forecaster said, adding that there is a “risk of life-threatening impacts increasing for portions of the Florida west coast.”

The storm may pass south of the Florida Big Bend and is not expected to bring as much surge as Helene brought to the region last week. However, areas that saw storm surge with Helene — including from Pinellas County to Naples — could see storm surge again, the Weather Channel warned.

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Heavy rainfall was expected to pound the Sunshine State ahead of the system’s arrival, and flood watches were already in place for much of the peninsula Sunday morning.

“The threat that comes with every hurricane is significant rainfall and flash flooding. It won’t be anything like what just happened in the Carolinas,” Braud noted. “These would be two completely different events. Florida will still see decent rain for the days, but it will not result in anywhere near the catastrophic flooding that was in the Appalachians and parts of the Carolinas.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis preemptively declared a state of emergency in 35 counties ahead of the storm’s expected landfall. The governor also asked the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Transportation to coordinate all available resources ahead of the storm, as many counties are still reeling from Hurricane Helene’s devastation.

Additional hurricane and storm surge warnings will likely go into effect later Sunday.

As Milton moves closer to making landfall, rescuers continue searching for people unaccounted for following Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage and killed over 230 people in several southeast states just last week.

With Post wires.

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