Stores across the central Florida region saw runs on bottled water, flashlights, and generators. Long lines of vehicles jockeyed for sand and sandbags — scarce, in some places that offered

Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane Monday on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.