Hurricane Milton strengthened rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico on October 6, posing a growing threat to Florida’s western coast after bringing heavy rains to Mexico, meteorologists warned. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Milton, which began as a tropical storm, had intensified into a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometres per hour. As of midday on October 6, Milton’s eye was located 355 kilometres northeast of Cabo Rojo in the Mexican Gulf Coast state of Veracruz and 465 kilometres northwest of Puerto Progreso on the Yucatan Peninsula. The storm i…