Rescue operations were under way in Florida on Thursday as officials sought to assess the damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton as it crossed the state overnight, triggering widespread flooding and leaving millions without power.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning said state search and rescue teams were engaged in 125 active missions, with 48 people successfully rescued from torrential floodwater and destroyed buildings. Ten people had been killed, said homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The Tampa Bay area was spared the catastrophic storm surge that had been feared, although Sarasota County — where Milton made landfall as a category 3 storm — encountered a surge of up to 10 feet in places.