BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Milton quickly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane Monday in the Gulf of Mexico on a path towards Floridathreatening dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay, prompting evacuation orders and long gas lines, and increasing urgency for cleanup efforts after Hurricane Helene, which the same stretch of coastline inundated less than two weeks ago.

A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the Mexican state of Yucatán, which were expected to be affected, and much of the west coast of Florida was under hurricane and storm surge watches. Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, which often floods during heavy storms, was also under a hurricane watch.

“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said at a news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.”

Compact Milton rapidly intensified Monday and was expected to become a major hurricane over the eastern Gulf. It had maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm’s center was about 130 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and about 720 miles southwest of Tampa on Monday afternoon, moving at 9 mph from east to southeast.

The center could make landfall on Wednesday Tampa Bay area, and it could remain a hurricane as it moves through central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other states destroyed by Helenekilling at least 230 people en route from Florida to the Appalachians.

Forecasters warned of a possible storm surge of 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay and said flash and river flooding could result from 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain on mainland Florida and the Keys . with as much as 38 centimeters in some places.

The Tampa Bay area is still recovering from Helene and its powerful surge. Twelve people were killed, with the worst damage along a series of barrier islands from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday it was imperative that Helene’s messes be cleaned up before Milton’s arrival so they don’t become projectiles. More than 300 vehicles picked up debris Sunday but encountered a closed landfill gate when they tried to dispose of it. State troopers used a rope tied to a pickup truck and broke it open, DeSantis said.

“We don’t have time for bureaucracy and red tape,” DeSantis said.

‘They will be flying rockets’

Lifeguards in Pinellas County, on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay, have removed beach chairs and other items that could fly away in high winds. Elsewhere, stoves, chairs, refrigerators and kitchen tables stood in heaps waiting to be picked up.

Sarah Steslicki, who lives in Belleair Beach, said she was frustrated that more debris wasn’t picked up sooner.

“They laughed their asses off and didn’t pick up the debris, and now they’re scrambling to pick it up,” Steslicki said Monday morning. “When this one hits, they’ll be flying missiles. Things will float and fly through the air.

Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, ordered evacuations Tuesday evening for areas bordering Tampa Bay and for all mobile and manufactured homes.

“Yes, this stinks. We know that, and it comes right after many of us are still recovering from Hurricane Helene,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “But if you protect your families, you will still live.”

Reluctance to evacuate

Milton’s approach evoked memories of 2017’s Hurricane Irma, when about seven million people were urged to evacuate Florida in an exodus that blocked highways and clogged gas stations. Some people who left promised never to evacuate again.

By Monday morning, some gas stations in the Tampa area were already out of gas. Fuel continued to arrive in Florida and the state had collected hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, with many more arriving, DeSantis said.

Although Tanya Marunchak’s home in Belleair Beach was flooded with more than 4 feet of Helene’s water, she and her husband were unsure Monday morning whether to evacuate. She wanted to leave, but her husband felt their three-story house was sturdy enough to withstand Milton.

“We lost all our cars and all our furniture; the first floor was completely destroyed,” Marunchak said. “This is the strangest weather situation that has ever happened.”

If residents don’t evacuate, it could endanger first responders or make rescue efforts impossible: “If you stay there, you could die and my men and women could die trying to save you,” said Fire Department Chief Jason Dougherty of Hillsborough.

Why did Milton intensify so quickly?

Milton’s wind speed intensification of 90 miles per hour in 24 hours trails only that of Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and Hurricane Felix in 2007. One reason Milton strengthened so quickly is its small size, with a ‘ pinhole eye’, just like Wilma’s. , said hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University.

The storm will likely have to go through a so-called eyewall replacement cycle, a natural process that forms a new eye and increases the storm’s size but weakens wind speeds, Klotzbach said.

The Gulf of Mexico is unusually warm right now, so “the fuel is just there,” and Milton likely passed over an additional warm vortex that helped him along, said hurricane scientist Kristen Corbosiero of the University at Albany.

The hurricane center predicts slight weakening before landfall in Florida. The last hurricane to be a Category 5 upon landfall on the US mainland was Michael in 2018.

Cancellations in Florida and Mexico

The University of Central Florida in Orlando said it would close midweek, but Walt Disney World said it was operating normally for now. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers planned to move their operations to the New Orleans area for the rest of the week, leading to Sunday’s NFL game against the Saints, and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s NHL game against the Nashville Predators on Monday was canceled.

All tolls were suspended in west-central Florida. The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it would close Tuesday after the last flight, and Tampa International Airport said it planned to halt airline and cargo flights starting Tuesday morning.

All classes and school activities in Pinellas County, home to St. Petersburg, were closed Monday through Wednesday and schools were converted into shelters. Officials in Tampa have released city garages to residents in hopes of protecting their cars from flooding.

Mexico’s coastal state of Yucatan canceled classes along the coast after forecasters predicted Milton would cover the northern part of the state. Cancellations also included the Gulf Coast’s most populous cities, such as Progreso; the capital Merida; and the Celestun nature reserve, known for its flamingos.

It’s been 20 years since so many storms passed through Florida in such a short time. In 2004, five unprecedented storms hit Florida within six weeks, including three hurricanes that ravaged central Florida.

Although Tampa has not been directly hit by a hurricane in more than a century, other parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast have been recovering from such storms in the past two years. The Fort Myers area of ​​southwest Florida is still rebuilding from Hurricane Ian, which caused $112 billion in damage in 2022. Three hurricanes have ravaged the Big Bend region of Florida in just thirteen months, including Helene.

___

Schneider reported from Orlando. Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee contributed to this report