Hurricane Milton has been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane ahead of its expected landfall as a Category 3 storm around Tampa Bay late Wednesday evening. Life-threatening storm surges and winds are predicted to hit an already damaged Florida, where at least 20 people died from Hurricane Helene nearly two weeks ago.

Milton’s strength

On Sunday morning, Milton was only a tropical storm. However, after growing by more than 60 mph within a 24-hour period, it upgraded to a Category 3 by 7 a.m. Monday morning. Milton became a Category 4 at 9 a.m. and then, two hours later, grew to a Category 5. The storm eased throughout Monday night, going back to a strong Category 4, but it is continuing to head for the Tampa Bay area with breakneck wind speeds of 145 mph as of late Wednesday morning.