Florida was devastated by flooding, high winds and tornadoes from the deadly Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc across Florida, where it spawned tornadoes, knocked out power to more than 3.3 million energy customers, put about 11 million people at risk of flooding and killed at least nine people.

Milton was moving into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday morning after making landfall the previous evening as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa.

At least four deaths were confirmed in St. Lucie County on the state's Atlantic coast, where tornadoes struck. At least two people died in the storm in St. Petersburg, police said. According to the sheriff's office, at least three people died in Volusia County.

Photos and videos showed houses submerged in murky floodwaters, residents trying to evacuate in small boats, streets torn to pieces and debris scattered in every direction.

The storm's winds were particularly fierce in Venice Beach in Sarasota County, where they reached top speeds of 107 miles per hour. St. Petersburg recorded a staggering 18.31 inches of rainfall, reaching the threshold for a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event.

The residents of Tampa had to expect widespread damage. Milton toppled a construction crane onto a downtown building and ripped the roof off Tropicana Field, which was intended to house emergency responders – a plan that was canceled before the storm hit. The city's mayor told reporters that there were no reports of serious injuries or deaths there as a result of the storm.

The storm surge was not as egregious as expected, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters at a briefing Thursday morning.

“The storm was significant, but fortunately this was not the worst-case scenario,” DeSantis said. “The storm weakened before making landfall and, as originally reported, the overall storm surge was not as significant as what was observed with Hurricane Helene.”

More than 80,000 people hid in emergency shelters overnight. Search and rescue teams worked overnight to rescue families and pets, DeSantis told reporters. As of 6:30 a.m. ET, at least 48 people had been rescued, he said.

President Joe Biden said he had pre-deployed thousands of federal troops to storm-hit areas, including more than 1,000 Coast Guard members.

“Help is on the way,” Biden said in a post on X. He said downed power lines, debris and street flooding were creating dangerous conditions. “Stay in place until your local officials say it is safe to go out,” he said.

More than 3,000 flights were canceled or delayed as the storm shut down airports.

According to the National Weather Service, Milton remained a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 85 mph as of 8 a.m. ET. It was located 75 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral and was moving east-northeast at a speed of 18 miles per hour.

The weather service added that the storm is expected to weaken “rapidly” as it moves away from the U.S. coast.

Milton made landfall just 13 days after Helene devastated the Southeast, breaking the record for the shortest time between two major hurricanes in Florida. Helene is blamed for at least 243 deaths in the region, including 25 in the Sunshine State.

Helene also caused deaths in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.