'This is the most impactful storm we have faced': 'Major' storm Hurricane Milton to make landfall as Florida reels from Helene

Another catastrophic hurricane is barrelling towards Florida's Gulf Coast just 10 days after Hurricane Helene left at least 230 people dead and thousands of homes flooded across the Southeast.

Hurricane Milton, currently churning its way eastward from the western Gulf of Mexico, strengthened from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday (Oct. 6) night, according to an announcement by the National Weather Service. It has now exploded into a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of at least 150 miles per hour (241 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center.

Officials forecast that the hurricane will maintain most of its intensity before it makes landfall in or near the Tampa Bay area on Tuesday night (Oct. 8) or Wednesday morning. Milton's winds will bring yet another deadly storm surge to Florida's west coast as the region still reels from Helene.

The appearance of the hurricane has prompted renewed evacuation orders across Florida. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 35 counties on Saturday, according to a statement from his office.

"I highly encourage you to evacuate," Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said at a news conference on Sunday night. "We are preparing … for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, [for] Hurricane Irma."

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In 2017, 6.8 million people evacuated their homes in advance of Irma, which killed more than 130 people across Florida and the Caribbean, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.