The Category 5 hurricane is set to make landfall in Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene sacked the state.

Not even two weeks after Hurricane Helene swamped the Florida coastline, Milton has strengthened rapidly into a Category 5 hurricane on a path toward the state. The system is threatening the densely populated Tampa metro area — which has a population of more than 3.

Milton intensified quickly Monday over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 180 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.