Residents in unincorporated Pinellas County can begin gathering sandbags Sunday to protect property from possible flooding as Tropical Storm Milton heads toward the Florida Peninsula.

Tropical Storm Milton is likely to become a major hurricane in three days as it aims for Florida's already storm-battered west coast, federal forecasters said Saturday.

Tropical Storm Milton officially formed Saturday afternoon, and the National Hurricane Center said it could strengthen into a hurricane as soon as Monday. The National Hurricane Center’s first cone of uncertainty for Milton puts it on an eastward path through the Gulf of Mexico and into Florida’s west coast on Wednesday — a second blow for a region still catching its breath from the devastating Category 4 Hurricane Helene.