Even without the predicted storm surge, however, the state was still in danger of river flooding after up to 457 mm of rain fell. Authorities were waiting for rivers to crest, but so far water levels were at or below their levels after Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, Castor said.
In Fort Myers on the south-west coast, resident Connor Ferin surveyed the wreckage of his home, which had lost its roof and was full of debris and rainwater after a tornado.
“All this happened instantaneously, like these windows blew out,” he said. “I grabbed the two dogs and ran under my bed and that was it. Probably one minute total.”
The storm hit Florida’s west coast on Wednesday night as a category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, with top sustained winds of 205km/h. While still a dangerous storm, Milton arrived less violently than the rare category 5 hurricane that had threatened the state as it trekked over the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida.
Milton weakened further as it crossed land, dropping to a category 1 hurricane with top sustained winds of 145km/h as it reached the peninsula’s east coast, the National Hurricane Centre said. By Thursday morning, the storm was moving away from the Florida Atlantic coast after lashing communities on the eastern shoreline.
Hurricane Milton uprooted this billboard in Clearwater, Florida. Credit: AP
The eye of the storm hit land in Siesta Key, a barrier island town of some 5400 people off Sarasota about 100 kilometres south of Tampa Bay.
‘We’ll get through this’
DeSantis said crews across the state spent the night clearing debris. US President Joe Biden’s administration had agreed to all of Florida’s requests for emergency assistance, he told CNBC.
“Our state is a peninsula in the middle of a tropical environment. We are just built to be able to respond to hurricanes,” DeSantis said. “We’ll survey the damage and get people on their feet. We’ll get through this.”
Tornados caused damage in numerous counties and destroyed around 125 homes, mostly mobile homes, the governor said.
St Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson estimated 100 homes were destroyed in the county where some 17 tornadoes touched down, NBC reported.
In a state already battered by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, as many as two million people had been ordered to evacuate ahead of Milton’s arrival.
Florida’s airports remained closed on Thursday, including Tampa, Palm Beach and St Pete-Clearwater, with exceptions only for emergency aircraft, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.