Friday 11th of October 8.21a.m. Sunny and calm. 3.7 / 13kph W, Hg 50%, 18.1C / 64.6F top of 23C / 73F. Shower or two
(I'm running the hose). Marine wind warning.
Moon is 51.6%
Hurricane Milton kills at least 10 people in Florida as millions remain without power and flooding risk persists
2 hours 43 mins ago
Hurricane Milton has killed at least 10 people in Florida, after whipping up tornadoes, destroying homes and knocking out power to millions before blowing out into the Atlantic.
Governor Ron DeSantis said at a Thursday morning briefing, local time, that the state had avoided the "worst-case scenario", though he cautioned the damage was still significant.
The Tampa Bay area appeared to have escaped the deadly surge of seawater that had prompted the most dire warnings.
US Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a White House briefing the deaths appeared to have been caused by a spate of tornadoes across the state.
Five of those killed were in St. Lucie on Florida's east coast, including at least two in the senior-living Spanish Lakes Communities, a set of retirement neighbourhoods, when multiple twisters touched down on Wednesday afternoon, said county spokesperson Erick Gill.
There were 19 confirmed tornadoes in Florida as of 8pm Wednesday, about the time Milton made landfall, Mr DeSantis said.
Some 45 tornadoes were reported throughout the day, mostly in the central and eastern parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service.
More than 3 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power on Thursday morning.
Some of them had been waiting for days for power to be restored after Hurricane Helene hit the area nearly two weeks ago.
The hurricane destroyed the fabric that serves as the roof of Tropicana Field, the stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg.
"One of the blessings for us is that we did not see that predicted storm surge. That saved a lot," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said during an early morning news conference.
In the Tampa area, the storm toppled trees and threw debris across roadways and downed powerlines, video footage from local news showed.
Some neighbourhoods were flooded, but the extent of the damage will not be known until crews can get out and assess the destruction, Cr Castor said.
Emergency crews in the area responded overnight to dozens of calls for help, including one in which a tree fell on a house with 15 people, including children, inside, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said. All 15 people were taken to a shelter, he said.
The state was still in danger of river flooding after up to 45 centimetres of rain.
Authorities were still waiting for rivers to crest, but so far water levels were at or below what they received with Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, officials said on Thursday morning.
