Hurricane Milton hit landfall last night as the west coast of Florida was put through the wrath of the storm, with horrific images revealing the damage.
The damage extended to several regions of the Sunshine State, beyond just the west coast, as numerous tornadoes formed and wrecked havoc on the Floridians, with footage revealing how intense it was.
Initially, the storm was upgraded to category five (over 157 mph) earlier this week, but by the time it reached the state, it was downgraded to category three (over 100 mph) on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
Category five is the most severe, which meant that 'catastrophic damage will occur' to the affected areas.
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US residents and tourists in the Sunshine State were advised to take precautions ahead of the hurricane hitting landfall as many stocked up on essentials, as the National Weather Service predicted that power outages would last weeks while several homes would be destroyed.
However, as it hit Floridian shores at 8:30pm local time on Wednesday night (9 October), its 100+ mph winds gushed over Siesta Key, a barrier island next to Sarasota, as Tampa Bay avoided a direct hit despite initial worries from authorities.
Mayor Jane Castor went as far as urging residents to evacuate, warning that they were 'going to die' if they didn't.
At 5.00am, the centre of the storm was northeast of Cape Canaveral as it approached the Atlantic Ocean, maintaining winds of 85 mph, making it a Category one hurricane.
New images have been released, highlighting some of the severe damage caused as the sun rose over Florida.
Multiple deaths were confirmed in St Lucie County in the southeast, on Florida's Atlantic coast, as tornadoes built up.
Sheriff Keith Pearson told CNN that he couldn't say how many people had died in total due to the storm, saying: "Unfortunately, I do have to report that we do have multiple fatalities."
He also revealed that a 'modular home community' for people aged 55 and above was swept away: "Their whole homes with them inside were lifted up, moved, destroyed," he said.
"I mean, everything in the hurricane or this tornado's path is gone," he damningly stated.
125 homes in the state were even destroyed before Milton made landfall, according to the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie.
Over three million households were left with no electricity across the state as of 4.00am local time.
The powerful winds managed to rip the roof off the Tropicana Field Stadium, while also hitting Disney World in some horrifying footage.
Now, cars and streets have been left engulfed in water as a result of the downpour and surge brought from the storm.
President Joe Biden even deployed thousands of federal authorities to help with areas hit by Milton, which also included over 1,000 Coast Guard members.
Topics: Weather, US News, Hurricane Milton, World News
Joshua Nair