Category 5 Hurricane Milton prompts thousands of evacuations

Another hurricane is set to slam into Florida this week. Hurricane Milton is churning in the Gulf of Mexico tonight. As a category five storm, the National Hurricane center says Milton's winds strengthened by 95 MPH just in the past 24 hours. This is the second category five storm of the season following Hurricane Beryl back in early July. Milton could decrease in strength before making landfall somewhere between Tampa and Naples on Wednesday night. The storm is also expected to grow in size. In addition to the rain and wind Milton could bring a record storm surge to the Tampa area just two weeks after hurricane Helene devastated the region. To prepare, Florida is starting what could be its largest evacuation effort since 2017. Floridians are bracing for the second major hurricane they've experienced in less than two weeks. Officials issuing both mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders for at-risk areas. The National Hurricane Center is warning that flooding could threaten millions of residents. The ground is already saturated in some areas from Hurricane Helene.