FLORIDA, USA - Officials in Florida have confirmed that Hurricane Milton has killed several in Florida’s coastal communities, but the exact number is unknown.
The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida's Atlantic Coast, was hit particularly hard, with homes destroyed and some residents killed.
"We have lost some life," St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF News, though he wouldn't say how many people were killed.
At least two people were confirmed to have been killed in a tornado in St Lucie County, according to NBC.
It comes as state governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference on Wednesday: “Unfortunately, there will be fatalities. I don't think there's any way around that.”
Two million left without power as Hurricane Milton hits Florida
More than two million Florida residents have been left without power as the hurricane slammed into the state as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday.
The storm tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall in Siesta Key near Sarasota, about 70 miles south of Tampa.
The situation in the Tampa area was still a major emergency as St. Petersburg recorded over 16 inches of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of flash flooding there as well as other parts of western and central Florida.
Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, appeared to be badly damaged.
Residents also could no longer get water from their household taps because a water main break led the city to shut down service.
More than 2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.