Hotels in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties are likely to see a bookings spike as Gulf Coast area residents and visitors weighed evacuation plans from the Gulf Coast to avoid Hurricane

Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest level, in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday on a path toward Florida, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene struck Florida’s Big Bend coast, Milton appears headed for the state. It could intensify to a Category 4 and make landfall as a Category 3.