Chilling footage shows Hurricane Milton hitting Florida with destructive tornadoes as first deaths confirmed
Hurricane Milton hit Florida last night and began causing severe destruction to the state
Horrifying footage reveals Hurricane Milton making landfall in Florida, wrecking havoc on buildings and the surroundings on the west coast of the state.
US residents and tourists in the Sunshine State were advised to take precautions ahead of the potential category five hurricane as it approached, with many stocking up on food, water and other essentials in preparation.
Category five on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale means that 'catastrophic damage will occur' to the affected area, with winds set to exceed 157 mph or higher.
Homes are expected to be destroyed while power outages could last weeks, which would make some areas uninhabitable, according to the National Weather Service.
The Mayor of Tampa Bay, Jane Castor, urged residents to evacuate, or 'you are going to die'.
Some holidaymakers have been left stranded in the midst of it all, while the cyclone began to take shape in an apocalyptic-type way when seen from space.
It was predicted to be one of the worst storms in the region in over 100 years, with President Joe Biden warned it could be the ‘storm of the century’.
Luckily, the hurricane was downgraded to a category three storm as it reached landfall, though this still meant that Florida was hit with winds of more than 100 mph, creating numerous tornadoes around the area.
Reaching the shore at 8.30pm local time last night (9 October) near Siesta Key, it meant that Tampa Bay avoided a direct hit, despite initial worries.
Over two million homes and businesses suffered power outages, with Sarasota County, Manatee County, and Pinella County the hardest hit.
125 homes were destroyed before Milton even made landfall, according to the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie.
The damage it has caused overnight has been brutal, with videos capturing how terrifying it is for those in the area.
It is said that several tornadoes formed off the back of the hurricane, with deaths from the storm reported in St Lucie county, in the southeast of Florida.
At least two people were confirmed to be killed by a tornado in the county, according to the NBC, while a spokesperson for the St Lucie Fire District confirmed the deaths and also revealed that several others were taken to hospital.
Milton has been one of the fastest intensifying Atlantic storms in history, growing from 60 mph winds on Sunday to 175 mph winds on Monday, before being downgraded to category four, and last night, three.
Flash floods have been reported in areas all over the state as well, as heavy rainfall continues to pour down this morning (10 October).
The strong winds even ripped the roof off of Tropicana Field, the 42,735 capacity stadium that is home to the Tamba Bay Rays.
The site was intended to be used as a staging site for first responders and emergency management services, and was meant to host 10,000 people seeking shelter.
Luckily, no-one was hurt.
The Hurricane was downgraded this morning to category one, as it makes its way across Florida.
After the city of St Petersburg, located on the western edge of Tampa Bay, announced last night that it had paused first responders' operations due to weather conditions, a crane in its city centre collapsed and littered rubble across the road, after landing on a building.
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