Tropical Storm Milton was gaining speed and growing more powerful Sunday as it rolled through the Gulf of Mexico on a track that imperils areas of the Florida Peninsula still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Milton is expected to form Sunday and grow into a major hurricane that will hit Florida’s Gulf Coast with potentially “life-threatening” storm surge, flooding and

"Given the track over the very deep warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and little shear for the next couple of days, rapid intensification is explicitly forecast," NHC hurricane specialist Eric Blake said at 10 a.