A new Florida-bound hurricane has intensified into a Category 5 hurricane only about four hours after reaching Category 4 and less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene destroyed parts of the U.S. Southeast.

Hurricane Milton "has strengthened to a category 5" with maximum sustained winds "estimated to be 160 mph with higher gusts" as it churns in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Monday at 11:55 a.m. Eastern Time.

Milton is expected to barrel onto the shores of Florida's west coast "as a powerful hurricane late Wednesday ... and then move across the state out into the western Atlantic, again as a hurricane, by early Thursday morning," NHC Director Michael Brennan said Monday. The Yucatán peninsula will also be affected.

Milton attained Category 4 status as of 9:05 a.m. Monday as its maximum sustained winds reached 150 mph with a minimum pressure of 940 mb, according to the NHC.

By comparison, Hurricane Helene featured maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) as it made landfall Sep. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida's Big Bend area. The death toll from Helene reached 227 Saturday and could keep climbing as bodies were still being recovered, The Associated Press reported.

The NHC's Storm Surge Unit has issued a storm surge warning for parts of west Florida, with Tampa Bay and surrounding areas bracing for waves from Milton that could reach as high as 12 feet. Residents could receive evacuation orders from their local officials. (RELATED: 'Deeply Troubling': Absolutely Insane '1-In-284,000-Year Event' Is Signaling An Extremely Violent Hurricane Season)

"If you're in the path of Hurricane #Milton, the time to act is NOW," the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said after Milton was classified as a Category 4 storm. "If evacuation orders are given, DO NOT DELAY -- leave immediately. Staying could mean risking your life and the lives of those you care about."

"@FLSERT [The Florida Division of Emergency Management] is addressing more than 600 resource requests from communities in the storm's path," Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Monday. "We are deploying truckloads of food and water, ambulances, Starlinks, and more than 2,000 feet of flood protection systems to protect critical infrastructure in Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area. We are also amassing an additional 1.5 million gallons of fuel reserves and staging them to be utilized as needed."

There also are two other storms, Leslie and Kirk, occurring simultaneously with Milton in the Atlantic Basin but they are considered less dangerous, according to updates from the NHC.

Leslie's winds had weakened to about 85 mph as it churned northwestward as of approximately 11:00 a.m., the NHC said. Leslie could weaken into a tropical storm in about 24 hours.

At the same time, Kirk could likely remain a large and powerful extratropical cyclone and is currently sustaining 75-mph winds, according to the NHC. It could trigger potentially dangerous rip and surf currents along the East Coast as it moves northeast.

Neither of these storms has currently triggered any coastal watches or warnings.