Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane Monday on a path toward Florida population centers, threatening a 12-foot 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.

Some Florida residents in Seminole County say they were “terrified” and briefly sent into a panic after a county-wide evacuation order was sent with incomplete information ahead of Hurricane Milton.