Milton will probably make landfall Wednesday as a Category 2 or 3 hurricane, with the potential for a disastrous storm surge in the Tampa Bay area.

People across Florida were given notice Sunday that Milton, for now just a tropical storm off the coast of Mexico, could intensify rapidly into a major hurricane before slamming midweek into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.

As of 5 a.m. Sunday, Hurricane Kirk was located about 1,270 miles west of the Azores moving north-northeast at 23 mph with sustained winds of 105 mph. That keeps Kirk a Category 2 hurricane, having lost steam since it reached Category 4 level earlier this week and becoming the season’s third major hurricane.