The hurricane Milton has left a trail of death and destruction in the state of Florida in US, with reports of more than 3 million customers without electricity. At least 10 people are reported to have been killed in the storm so far.
Milton made landfall Wednesday night, local time, along the west-central coast of the state as a Category 3 storm.
It had already sent scores of tornadoes ahead of it that had been hammering these areas. However, forecasters have said that Milton has now been downgraded to Category 1 and it will leave Florida and weather conditions will improve gradually.
US President Joe Biden has called Milton a “storm of the century” in appeals to residents of the state on Wednesday as the storm came close.
He was briefed by Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell about the initial impacts of Hurricane Milton, as well as the Federal government’s ongoing support to State and local officials, who are focused on life-saving response efforts.
Several US Gulf ports including Panama City, St. Joe and Key West in Florida began reopening to vessel traffic on Thursday following the passage of Hurricane Milton, according to reports by the US Coast Guard.
Governor Ron DeSantis said 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 storm surge that had prompted the most dire warnings.
There were 19 confirmed tornados in Florida as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, about the time Milton made landfall, DeSantis said. Some 45 tornados were reported throughout the day, mostly in the central and eastern parts of the state, the National Weather Service said.
