Florida is bracing as Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 1 storm on Sunday, days before it’s expected to make landfall on the state’s Gulf Coast where communities are still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Milton was continuing to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico and was forecast to become a major hurricane later Monday as it inched toward a midweek landfall along the west coast of Florida, where residents are still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Helene,

Milton continued to grow stronger on Sunday as it rapidly intensified into a hurricane. The latest projections call for the storm to hit Category 4 in the open Gulf of Mexico before weakening slightly to a Category 3 as it approaches Florida’s west coast.