‘Here we go again’: Milton expected to become a major hurricane as Floridians are still reeling from Helene

By Dalia Faheid, Allison Chinchar and Dakin Andone, CNN

(CNN) — Communities in Florida are being urged to prepare for a potential Category 3 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico shortly after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the state — killing at least 20 people in Florida, leaving thousands without power and paving a trail of wreckage.

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

The storm is quickly strengthening, already boasting winds of 65 mph, according to an update Sunday morning from the National Hurricane Center. As of 11 a.m. ET, the storm was about 835 miles west-southwest from Tampa in the Gulf of Mexico. It is forecast to intensify into a hurricane by Sunday night — and a major hurricane by late Monday.

The storm is projected to make landfall Wednesday at up to Category 3 strength with 120 mph winds between Cedar Key and Naples, which includes the entire Tampa Bay area. Hurricane and storm surge watches will likely be issued for parts of the western Florida coast on Sunday — with dangerous storm surge expected for some areas just slammed by Helene.

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

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 running weeks ahead of schedule, as it doesn’t usually occur until October 25.

With very low vertical wind shear and incredibly warm sea-surface temperatures, Milton will be able to gain steady to rapid strength over the next few days.

Officials prepare for more impacts and evacuations

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

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Sunday for 51 of the state’s 67 counties, up from 35 on Saturday.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management is preparing for the largest evacuation since 2017, Director Kevin Guthrie said at a news conference with DeSantis on Sunday.

“I urge Floridians to finalize your storm preparations now, enact your plan. I highly encourage you to evacuate,” Guthrie said.

State authorities are also anticipating Milton could cause widespread power outages, DeSantis said.

“This is something that potentially would be greater power outages than what we just saw with Hurricane Helene,” the governor said, noting the state’s residents still have a couple of days to get ready. “So Floridians should just be prepared for that. Know if you’re anywhere near that cone, certainly you should prepare to have power interruptions.”

Milton could also cause greater storm surge in the Tampa Bay area than it saw in Helene, DeSantis added, describing efforts to deploy hundreds of feet of flood protection systems.

Florida’s emergency officials are again announcing sandbag distribution sites. Multiple sandbag locations will be open in counties preparing for potential storm impacts, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post Saturday.

The town of Fort Myers Beach warned residents to be prepared and said they could pick up sandbags at the town hall. “Do not wait until it is too late” to evacuate, it added.

“Here we go again,” said the police department in Naples, adding that heavy rainfall and flooding concerns will increase starting Sunday through the middle of next week. Authorities urged residents not to drive on streets with water over them.

The city of Sanibel warned residents and business owners in a news release Saturday to begin preparing for impacts from the storm “as soon as possible.” Since Helene hit the city, crews have worked throughout the island to clear storm drains and debris and manage weirs to increase storage capacity of storm water, the city said. Sanibel officials encouraged residents to clear debris from drainage areas near their homes or businesses before any heavy rainfall.

DeSantis has also ordered all disaster management sites to remain open 24/7 as the state rushes to remove debris left in the wake of Helene. State personnel and assets — including the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard — have been directed to work around the clock to assist local efforts to clean up and dispose of the debris, which could pose a hazard in the event Milton hits the state, DeSantis said Sunday.

“I’ve seen progress just by going around and visiting, but you also have some areas where there’s a lot of debris that’s there,” the governor said. “So you get hit with a major hurricane, what’s going to happen to that debris? It’s going to increase the damage dramatically.”

More than 800 guardsmen are currently deployed for debris removal, but DeSantis said there would soon be up to 4,000 available. Assets deployed to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery in Tennessee and North Carolina have also been ordered back to Florida, DeSantis said.

Florida residents recovering ‘one day at a time’

In hard-hit Pinellas County, which reported more than 28,000 properties had been damaged or destroyed by Helene, displaced residents who are picking up the pieces may soon have to endure another storm.

Officials said it’s too early to tell how Milton will impact the county, but residents could prepare by picking up sandbags at county sites starting Sunday.

“Some of us cry, some of us hug each other, and then we just put our big girl panties on and keep going,” 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 in complete shock when she saw the devastation in her neighborhood.

The only thing keeping 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.

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CNN’s Elisa Raffa contributed to this report.