Milton's center could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region, which has not endured a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century.

Another monster hurricane is set to strike the U.S. just two weeks after the last one. Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified to Category 5 strength on Monday, less than two days after it formed as a tropical storm over the Gulf of Mexico,

The storm's worst punch was probably two days away but residents of Florida were being urged to take precautions now and check the status of flights.