Hurricane Milton kills at least 7, many far from landfall

The wreckage of homes destroyed by Hurricane Milton in Fort Pierce, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Florida residents encountered a car thrown the length of a football field, floodwaters reaching up to their doorknobs and flattened homes all along the coast as Hurricane Milton’s destruction across the state came into fuller view on Thursday. (Mauricio Lima/The New York Times)

By Patricia Mazzei, Jenna Russell and Jacey Fortin

Florida residents encountered a car thrown the length of a football field, floodwaters reaching up to their doorknobs and flattened homes all along the coast as Hurricane Milton’s destruction across the state came into fuller view Thursday.

At least seven people were killed by the hurricane, and low-lying coastal neighborhoods were swallowed by flooding. Although the densely populated Tampa Bay area escaped devastating storm surge, the storm ripped the roof off Tropicana Field and slammed a tower crane into a building in downtown St. Petersburg.

Lakeland Police Department dive team personnel wade through floodwaters in the Buccaneer Bay mobile home park after Hurricane Milton passed over Lakeland, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Nicole Craine/The New York Times)

Here’s what we’re covering:

— Lifesaving warnings: Efforts to get people to follow evacuation orders and warnings appear to have worked. President Joe Biden said more than 80,000 Floridians safely sheltered from the storm. The threat of Milton had prompted one of the largest evacuations in the state’s history.

— Widespread impact: More than 3.1 million customers were without power in Florida on Thursday afternoon. In some Gulf Coast counties, the storm knocked out electricity to more than 80% of customers.

Boats left washed up by the storm surge from Hurricane Milton on a street in Punta Gorda, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. More than 3.2 million customers were without power in Florida on Thursday afternoon, but efforts to get people to follow evacuation orders and warnings appear to have worked. (Emily Kask/The New York Times)

— Tornado damage: Milton spawned powerful tornadoes far from where it came ashore, damaging more than 100 structures across the state. In St. Lucie County, local officials said that five people had been killed by tornadoes.

— Back out to sea: Milton, which came ashore Wednesday evening near Sarasota as a Category 3 hurricane, crossed the Florida Peninsula without losing hurricane strength. As of Thursday afternoon, the storm was in the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Bahamas.

— Help from outside: The Biden administration has sent 1,000 search and rescue workers to Florida to help in the storm’s aftermath, according to the White House, along with 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water. At least 20 other states also sent assistance.