Tornadoes, floods and power outages put millions of people at risk

Hurricane Milton Wreaked havoc across Florida, where Tornado hit Power outages to more than 3.3 million energy customers, keeping some 11 million people at risk of flooding And at least 10 people have died.

Milton was moving into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday morning after making landfall the night before as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa.

At least five people were confirmed dead in St. Lucie County, on the state's Atlantic coast, where the tornado touched down. At least two people died in St. Petersburg during the storm, police said. At least three people have died in Volusia County, according to the sheriff.

Photos and videos showed homes submerged in murky floodwaters, residents trying to evacuate in small boats, roads destroyed and debris scattered.

The storm's winds were particularly strong at Venice Beach in Sarasota County, where they reached 107 mph. An astonishing 18.31 inches of rain was recorded in St. Petersburg, meeting the threshold for a 1-in-1,000-year rain event.

Tampa residents woke up to extensive damage. Milton A construction crane falls on downtown buildings and the roof was torn off Tropicana Field, which was to be used to house emergency workers — a plan that was scrapped before the storm arrived. The city's mayor told reporters there were no reports of serious injuries or deaths from the storm.

At a briefing Thursday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters the storm was not as severe as expected.

“The storm was significant, but fortunately not a worst-case scenario,” DeSantis said. “The storm weakened before making landfall and the storm surge, as initially reported, was not as significant overall as that observed for Hurricane Helen.”

More than 80,000 people crowded into shelters overnight. Search and rescue teams worked through the night to save the family and pets, DeSantis told reporters. At least 48 people had been rescued as of 6:30 a.m., he said.

President Joe Biden said he had already deployed thousands of federal employees to areas hit by the storm, including more than 1,000 members of the Coast Guard.

“Help is on the way” Biden said in a post on X. He said power lines, debris and destroyed roads were creating dangerous conditions. “Shelter in place until local authorities say it is safe to leave,” he said.

More than 3,000 flights were canceled and delayed as airports were closed due to the storm.

As of 8 a.m., Milton was a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph, according to the National Weather Service. It was 75 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral and moving east-northeast at 18 mph.

The storm is expected to weaken “rapidly” as it moves away from the US coast, the weather service added.

Milton made landfall just 13 days after Helen devastated Florida, breaking the record for the shortest time between two major hurricanes in Florida. Helen has been blamed for at least 243 deaths in the region, including 25 in the Sunshine State.

Helen also caused deaths in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.