Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest level, in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday on a path toward Florida, 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.

Several schools, colleges and universities have announced they'll be closed in anticipation of Hurricane Milton. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says there’s still much uncertainty about Hurricane Milton, but the state is preparing to open highway shoulders for mass evacuations to come.

The order requires all landfills and debris management sites to be open 24 hours as residents continue to clean up from Helene.