Hurricane Milton regained Category 5 strength Tuesday as it barreled across the Gulf of Mexico toward the Florida Peninsula, where millions scrambled to wrap up storm preparations and evacuate vulnerable areas.

Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm packing 165-mile-per-hour sustained winds, continued to track toward Florida's Gulf Coast Tuesday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center, and "will bring life-threatening storm surge and winds" when it makes landfall either late Wednesday or early Thursday.