The feared hurricane Milton has crossed over Florida and reached the Atlantic. Along the way, torrential rains and storm winds hit everything in its path. In several places, streets are flooded and cars are stuck in the water masses, which are expected to continue rising. Trees and power lines are lying down.
The storm was powerful, but fortunately, it wasn't the worst-case scenario, says Governor Ron DeSantis at a press conference during the morning hours, local time.
Several people have died in St Lucie on the east coast of the state, where powerful tornadoes swept through before Milton's arrival.
It looked like someone had dropped a weight from the sky and leveled a bunch of houses with the ground, says an eyewitness in the hard-hit county to the local newspaper Treasure Coast Newspapers.
A house looked like it had been "torn in two", reports the witness.
130 warnings
In some places, people are stuck in flooded houses, reports CNN. In Palm Beach, among other places, several stranded people have been rescued.
Milton was downgraded step by step on the hurricane scale after crossing over Florida's west coast on Wednesday evening, local time, as a three on the five-grade scale.
Despite the storm's eye having now left the mainland, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warns of continued strong winds and major flooding. Floridians are urged to be cautious and avoid traveling.
Over three million households are still without power several hours after the storm. According to the federal emergency management agency Fema, over 70,000 residents spent the night in the shelters set up by the authorities, reports BBC.
"Cars were lifted"
Milton not only brought sustained strong winds and heavy rain. Already before the storm reached land, around 130 warnings for powerful tornadoes triggered by Milton were issued. This affected, among other places, St Lucie on the Atlantic coast, where residents were caught off guard by the whirlwinds.
The tornadoes are said to have destroyed numerous mobile homes in the area.
Cars were lifted up and tossed around, moved hundreds of meters, says Sheriff Keith Pearson in St Lucie to CNN.
In Pasco county, north of Tampa, the rescue service announced that they would pause all operations until it was deemed safe to resume them. Even in Orlando, rescue workers were forced to temporarily suspend their work, reports NBC News.
The water levels were already extreme in several places in Florida after Hurricane Helene, which hit the state at the end of September.
