Washington, Oct 10
Hurricane Milton has left a trail of death and destruction in the US state of Florida, with reports of more than three million customers without electricity.
"The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario," Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis said at a briefing on Thursday.
Milton made landfall on Wednesday night along the west-central coast of the state as a Category 3 storm, but it had already sent scores of tornadoes ahead of it that had been hammering these areas.
Forecasters have said Milton has now been downgraded to Category 1 and it will leave Florida on Thursday morning 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 FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Thursday morning 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 today.
Biden also spoke with DeSantis, a Republican.
"The Governor said they are still assessing the damage across the state," the White House said in a statement.
"He thanked the President for the extensive Federal support to prepare for and respond to the storm. The President reiterated that he will provide any support the state needs to speed response and recovery."
"The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario," DeSantis said at a briefing on Thursday morning.
Several fatalities were reported at a retirement community in one county that was hit by a tornado preceding Milton's landfall.
A clearer picture of its impact will emerge as the day progresses.
But communities along the west coast were already assessing the damage and clearing the debris.
Police and first responders were also back to carry out search and rescue efforts.
Parts of Florida are now facing damaging high winds, storm surges, and flash flooding.
Before making landfall, Milton pounded the state with a surprisingly high number of tornadoes.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued a record number of tornado warnings for the state, which indicate a twister has been spotted or detected by radar.
One of them struck a retirement community -- Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in Fort Pierce.
Several people died as search efforts continued.
"It's looking like the storm of the century," President Biden said at the start of a live briefing from his officials on the preparations.
"I urge everyone in Hurricane Milton's path to follow all safety instructions as we head into the next 24 hours. It's a matter of life and death."
More than 3.2 million customers were without electricity on Thursday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks electricity shutdowns with data from utility companies.