The storm made crossed the coast on Wednesday night as a category-three hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 195km/h near Siesta Key, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
By early Thursday, wind speeds reduced to a still-dangerous 150km/h, dropping Milton to a category-one hurricane, with heavy rains and damaging storm surges, as it reached Florida's Atlantic Coast.
5 am EDT - Hurricane — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) #Milton moving off the coast of east-central Florida. Still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rains. Here are the Key Messages. Go to https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ for details. pic.twitter.com/w14GGYpPDLOctober 10, 2024
The hurricane was about 17km northwest of Cape Canaveral, home to NASA's Space Force Station.
At least two deaths were reported at a retirement community following a suspected tornado in Fort Pierce on the eastern coast of Florida, NBC News reported, citing St Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson.
A flash flood emergency was in effect for the Tampa Bay area including the cities of Tampa, St Petersburg and Clearwater, the hurricane centre said, with St Petersburg already receiving 422 millimetres of rain on Wednesday.
The eye of the storm crossed the coast at Siesta Key, a barrier island town off Sarasota about 100km south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, which is home to more than three million people.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he hoped Tampa Bay, once seen as the potential bull's eye, could dodge major damage, but the hurricane still left its mark, tearing open the roof of Tropicana Field, the stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.
The winds also toppled a large construction crane in St Petersburg, sending the structure crashing down onto a deserted street.
Hurricane Milton toppled a construction crane onto a deserted street in St Petersburg, Florida. (AP PHOTO)
DeSantis hoped the worst of the predicted storm surge could be avoided thanks to the landfall coming before the high tide.
Forecasters said sea water could still rise as high as four metres.
Milton also spawned at least 19 tornadoes, the governor said, causing damage in numerous counties, destroying around 125 homes, most of them mobile homes.
In Fort Myers on Florida's south west coast, resident Connor Ferrin surveyed the wreckage of his home, which had lost its roof and was full of debris and rainwater after a tornado suddenly hit.
"All this happened instantaneous, like these windows blew out," he said.
"I grabbed the two dogs and run under my bed and that was it. Probably one minute total."
Hurricane Milton has weakened but is still packing heavy rain and damaging storm surges. (AP PHOTO)
St Lucie County's Pearson estimated 100 homes were destroyed in the county where some 17 tornadoes touched down, NBC said.
More than two million homes and businesses in Florida were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
Milton maintained hurricane intensity while crossing Florida on Thursday morning but as it moved into the Atlantic it is gradually losing strength, the hurricane centre said.
In a state already battered by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, as many as two million people were ordered to leave, and millions more live in the projected path of the storm.
Much of the southern US experienced the deadly force of Helene as it cut a swathe of devastation through Florida and several other states.
Both storms are expected to cause billions of dollars in damage.
Hurricane Milton hit the Florida coast as a category-three storm with winds of 195km/h. (EPA PHOTO)
While human evacuees jammed the highways and created gasoline shortages, animals including African elephants, Caribbean flamingos and pygmy hippos were riding out the storm at Tampa's zoo.
Nearly a quarter of Florida's petrol stations were out of fuel on Wednesday afternoon.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had moved millions of litres of water, millions of meals and other supplies and personnel into the area.
None of the additional aid would detract from recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, agency administrator Deanne Criswell said.
Trucks have been running 24 hours a day to clear debris left behind by Helene before Milton potentially turned them into dangerous projectiles, DeSantis said.
About 9000 National Guard personnel were deployed in Florida, ready to assist recovery efforts, as were 50,000 electricity grid workers in anticipation of widespread power outages, DeSantis said.
