CNN
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Communities in Florida are being urged to prepare for a potential Category 3 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico just days after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the state. At least 20 people were killed in Florida, leaving thousands without power and leaving a trail of wreckage.

While the state is still trying to clean up debris from Helene — which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend on September 26 as a Category 4 and created a 500-mile path of destruction with catastrophic flooding and damaging winds — it is now struggling with Tropical Storm Milton.

According to a Sunday morning update from the National Hurricane Center, the storm strengthened overnight and is packing winds of 60 miles per hour. At the time, the storm was about 800 miles from Tampa in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm is forecast to become a hurricane Sunday evening – and a major hurricane on Tuesday.

“Steady to rapid strengthening is forecast over the coming days. “Milton is forecast to become a hurricane later today, and it could become a major hurricane as it moves across the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico,” the update said.

Milton’s landfall is expected to occur Wednesday somewhere between Cedar Key and Naples, which includes the entire Tampa Bay area.

The storm is expected to make landfall at a Category 3 force with winds of 125 miles per hour. Hurricane and storm surge warnings are likely to be issued for parts of Florida’s west coast on Sunday – with dangerous storm surge expected for some areas just hit by Helene.

“Regardless of the details, there is increasing confidence that a powerful hurricane with life-threatening hazards will impact parts of the west coast of Florida,” the hurricane center said midweek, adding that rainfall will hit parts of Florida on Sunday. and Monday.

Miami, Orlando and Tampa are forecast to receive four to eight inches of rain through Thursday. That would be the equivalent of an entire month of rain for Miami, two months of rain for Orlando and three months of rain for Tampa. Locations in the state’s interior could see a total of more than 10 inches of rain.

Milton formed in the western Gulf on Saturday morning, just hours after it became a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center said in a special alert. The 13th named storm is weeks ahead of schedule, as it normally doesn’t occur until October 25.

With very low vertical wind shear and incredibly warm sea surface temperatures, Milton should see steady to rapid strengthening over the next few days.

In preparation for the storm, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 35 counties on Saturday, according to a news release from his office. The storm could extend Helene recovery efforts and impact Florida Gulf Coast communities still recovering from Helene, the release said.

“As many continue to recover from Hurricane Helene, I have directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Transportation to coordinate all available personnel and resources to supplement local communities in accelerating the removal of debris in the affected areas,” DeSantis said in a news conference. post on social media Saturday. “We will continue to deploy state resources to prepare for efficient search and rescue, power restoration and road clearing.”

It’s only been a little over a week since Helene criticized the state, but officials across Florida are already asking residents to prepare for another potentially life-threatening storm as many are still in recovery mode.

“Here we go again,” police said in Naples, Florida, with concerns about heavy rain and flooding set to increase from Sunday until the middle of next week. Authorities urged residents not to drive on streets with water covering them.

Once again, Florida emergency services find themselves announcing sandbag distribution locations. Multiple sandbag locations will be open in counties preparing for possible storm impacts, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post Saturday.

The city of Fort Myers Beach warned residents to “remain vigilant and prepared” and said residents could pick up sandbags at city hall.

“Those living in the flood-prone areas should be aware that the city’s stormwater system will not accommodate water breaching the seawalls from the back bay,” the city said in a Facebook post.

In the city of Sanibel, where more than 150 centimeters of rain fell prior to the storm surge caused by Helene, residents and business owners have been urged to prepare for the consequences of the storm ‘as quickly as possible’.

“Residents and business owners should anticipate a tropical storm or Hurricane Milton will likely bring flooding to Sanibel,” the city said in a news release Saturday. “Residents and business owners who are in low-lying areas of Sanibel, or who may not feel safe in their building during a storm, should consider seeking alternative accommodations before the storm arrives.”

Since Helene struck the city, crews across the island have been working to clear storm drains and debris and manage impoundments to increase stormwater storage capacity, the city said.

Sanibel officials encouraged residents to remove debris from drainage areas near their homes or businesses before heavy rainfall occurs.

Another area in Milton’s potential route is Pinellas County, where more than 28,000 properties were reported damaged or destroyed by Helene. Officials said it’s too early to say how Milton will impact the county, but residents can prepare by picking up sandbags at county locations starting Sunday.

As part of an effort to clean up the debris caused by Helene, the governor ordered that “Disaster management sites and landfills in all counties affected by Hurricane Helene remain open and dropping debris twenty-four hours a day,” according to the news release from Saturday from his office. said. That’s part of the state’s efforts to ensure as much of Helene’s debris as possible is cleared and removed before the approaching storm, the news release said.

In hard-hit Pinellas County, where thousands of homes were vandalized or destroyed by Helene, displaced residents left to pick up the pieces may soon have to weather another storm.

“Some of us cry, some of us hug each other, and then we just put on our big girl panties and move on,” St. Petersburg resident Debbie Bright told CNN affiliate WFTS. Her home has been destroyed and everything she owns is now in a 5-by-10-foot storage unit, she said.

Bright said she was completely shocked to see the destruction in her neighborhood.

“I have four grandchildren and this is the only place they’ve ever known and they come here. And they’re crying because this was Nanny and Papi’s house,” Bright said.

Bright stayed in Palm Harbor during the storm, but the storm surge came through her back door and pulled much of her furniture into the bay, she said.

“We’re here on day number seven and when I got here this morning I was sitting in a chair and we were crying, and then we’re fine and then we’re crying again,” Bright told WFTS.

The one thing that keeps her community going is having supportive neighbors, Bright said. All she can hope for at this point is that her community recovers quickly.

“It’s kind of one hour at a time, one day at a time,” Bright said.