Deadly Hurricane Milton hits Florida, causing tornadoes and massive power outages

Latest from Milton:

• At least 4 people killed in tornadoes in St. County. Lucie.
• Statewide, 3.2 million are without power.
• Florida's governor believes the storm was significant but not a “worst-case scenario.”
• Milton adds to the suffering of many people affected by Helene late last month.

Hurricane Milton entered the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after passing through Florida, pounding cities with fierce winds and rain and triggering a wave of tornadoes. This resulted in the death of at least four people and deepened the misery that Helene had recently experienced.

The storm moved south in recent hours before making landfall on Siesta Key near Sarasota, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. Although Tampa was not directly hit, the storm dumped up to 45 centimeters of rain in some parts of the metropolitan area, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

While Milton has caused a lot of damage and water levels could continue to rise for days, DeSantis said it's not a “worst-case scenario.” The governor said Milton's storm surge was not as expansive as Hurricane Helene or reached its peak height. Helene made landfall on September 27, and heavy cleanup efforts are still underway in parts of the state following her wrath.

• Are you a Canadian affected by Hurricane Milton? Tell us about it in an email to Ask@cbc.ca.

Before Milton made landfall, tornadoes were tearing through the state. Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce in St. County was hit particularly hard. Lucie on Florida's Atlantic coast, which left homes destroyed and some residents killed. St. officials Lucie confirmed that at least four people died as a result of the tornadoes that preceded landfall.

St. County Sheriff Lucie, Keith Pearson, posted a video on Facebook showing the 10,000 square foot iron building being twisted into a crumpled pile by the tornado. Pearson said sheriff's office patrol cars were inside the building, but fortunately no one was inside when it collapsed.

As dawn broke Thursday, officials reiterated that the danger was not over: Storm surge was still a problem in many parts of Florida, and tropical storm warnings were in effect for much of the Central and Eastern Seaboard. Officials in hard-hit Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee counties urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges and flooding.

“We will let you know when it is safe to leave,” Sheriff Chad Chronister of Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, said on Facebook.

Rays MLB headquarters damaged

The storm knocked out power across much of Florida, with more than 3.4 million homes and businesses without power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks media reports.

Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team from St. Petersburg, looked seriously damaged. The fabric that served as the roof of the domed stadium was torn to shreds by violent winds. It was not immediately clear whether there was any damage inside. The storm also toppled multiple cranes, according to the weather service.

Residents of St. Petersburg could no longer draw water from their home taps because a water main break forced the city to close its water supply. Mayor Ken Welch told residents to expect long power outages and possible sewer system shutdowns.

Inland from Tampa, the flooding in Plant City was “absolutely stunning,” according to City Manager Bill McDaniel. Emergency crews rescued 35 people overnight, said McDaniel, who estimated that 34 centimeters of rain fell in the city.

“We have flooding in many places to levels I have never seen, and I have lived in this community all my life,” he said in a video posted online Thursday morning.

Before the hurricane made landfall, about 125 homes were destroyed, many of them mobile homes in senior communities, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

WATCH l Significant hurricane, but storm surge falls short of major peaks Helene: Governor:

Florida's governor says hurricane was “significant” but not “worst-case scenario.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said early Thursday that the storm was damaging, but the storm surge “as initially reported was not as significant overall as was seen with Hurricane Helene.”

Flooding is expected inland

Approximately 90 minutes after landfall, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm. At 8 a.m. EST on Thursday, the storm had sustained winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour and was located 120 kilometers east-northeast of Cape Canaveral, on the East Coast state.

In many places along Florida's west coast, city officials rushed to collect and dispose of Helene's debris before Milton's winds and storm surge could scatter it and make it worse. Storm surge flooded streets and homes, killing at least 230 people in several southern U.S. states, including a dozen people in coastal Pinellas County, Florida alone.

Jackie Curnick said she struggled with the decision to stay home in Sarasota, north of where the storm made landfall. She and her husband started packing on Monday to evacuate, but they had difficulty finding available hotel rooms, and the few they did get were too expensive. Curnick said that with the Oct. 29 birth of her two-year-old son and daughter, there are too many unanswered questions to consider.

Video footage taken during the storm shows howling winds and raindrops hitting the glass-enclosed swimming pool as their son and dog look on. The trees shook violently.

“The thing is, it's very difficult to evacuate on the peninsula,” she said before the storm. “In most other states, you can leave in any direction. There are only so many roads in Florida that go north or south.”

According to GasBuddy, more than 60 percent of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg ran out of gas on Wednesday evening.

DeSantis and other Florida officials cautioned residents who have left to be patient as they return home and wait for local authorities to assess them. The governor also warned against walking or performing activities in standing water, which may contain bacteria.

Officials at the local level echoed much of this advice.

Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche said in a video statement on social media that damage from Hurricane Milton does not appear to be as severe as initially feared and search and rescue efforts are ongoing.

“Please don't rush home right now, we're still trying to assess what's going on,” Troche said. “We still have power lines down, we still have trees in the road.”