Milton is forecast to rapidly intensify in the next couple of days in the Gulf of Mexico and become a major hurricane on Monday, forecasters said.

Most of the area around Apalachee Bay is undeveloped state-protected land. There are a few exceptions. Horseshoe Beach is a pre-planned development that juts out into the Bay. It is perched on the dangerous side of Helene's expected path, on the "dirty" east side where winds and the surge are the highest.

The last time the eye of a major storm like Hurricane Milton directly struck Tampa Bay was 1921 when the city was a sleepy backwater