Florida Prepares for Hurricane Milton on Heels of Helene: 'Storm of the Century'

The mass exodus from Florida's Gulf Coast is underway with Hurricane Milton exploding into a once in a lifetime storm less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the state.

"This is the oddest weather predicament that there has ever been, so I can't believe that there's already another one," said Belleair Beach resident Tanya Marunchak.

Milton strengthened from a Category 1 storm to a Category 5 in just a few hours Monday with winds of 155 mph. 

Hurricane specialist John Morales of WTVJ, an NBC affiliate in Miami, became emotional on-air as he described Milton's rapid growth. "It's just an incredible, incredible hurricane…it has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours, I apologize, this is just horrific," he said.

The storm weakened overnight and is forecast to make landfall as a still dangerous Category 3 sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday near Tampa Bay. 

Fifteen inches of rain is possible.

"This is the storm of the century, and we need to be preparing for this storm," said Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw.

Officials in Tampa are warning residents to not let their guard down and to take evacuation orders seriously as life-threatening storm surge of 10 to 15 feet is expected.

"This is going to be an event like none other. Helene was mostly a water event for us. This is going to be wind, water, storm surge, rain, you name it. It's going to bring everything towards our community," said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

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Airports in Tampa and Orlando are shutting down operations Tuesday.  Schools in at least 20 counties will close starting Tuesday as well.

In central Florida, people rush to prepare, filling up sandbags and stocking up on supplies.

"Just in terms of preparation you have got to do what you can early, just get out there, it is what it is, right?" said Seminole resident Tom Murphy. 

At least 10 counties are under evacuation orders as people stock up on supplies. Grocery store shelves are running bare and some gas stations are running dry, but the governor insists there is enough supply.

"We can't control how strong or how weak it gets. The only thing you can affect is what you do and the decisions you make to protect yourself and your family," Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

Meanwhile, some Christian leaders are praying for God to intervene and weaken the hurricane to diminish any damage:

Another urgent concern is the debris from Hurricane Helene still piled up in coastal communities. Gov. DeSantis ordered landfills to be open around the clock to help speed clean-up. FEMA, which has come under fire for slow reaction to Hurricane Helene, says 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water are ready to send out with thousands of workers from as far as California standing by to help restore power.