Hurricane Milton leaves four people dead in eastern Florida

In the western part of the state, water service was disrupted along the St. Petersburg coast after officials were forced to shut down the system due to hurricane damage.

Officials say the shutdown is expected to last “until necessary repairs can be completed” and that this will only be possible if it is safe for crews to be outside.

Elsewhere in the city, portions of the roof of a Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball stadium were torn off.

Meanwhile, a crane crashed into the Tampa Bay Times newspaper building, but the newspaper itself wrote that no one was inside at the time.

In Tampa itself, police said they rescued 15 people – including some children – from a local home after a tree crashed into it.

One of those waiting for power to be restored was Chynna Perkins, who told the BBC she decided not to evacuate partly out of fear that she and her husband would not be able to find suitable accommodation for their two large dogs.

She said their anxiety “went through the roof” when the storm hit, but they got through it.

In addition to the 3.4 million people who were left without power in Florida, there were thousands more in Georgia and nearby North Carolina who experienced the storm’s outer edge.

Milton’s arrival comes two weeks after the southeastern United States was hit by Hurricane Helene, killing more than 200 people and leaving many more missing. The cleanup work is ongoing.

Hurricane Milton is now moving east toward the Atlantic.