Florida residents have slogged through flooded streets, gathered up scattered debris and assessed damage to their homes after Hurricane Milton smashed through coastal communities and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes.

At least 10 people were dead, and rescuers were still saving people from swollen rivers, but many expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse. 

The hurricane spared densely populated Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialised.

Amy Bishop and her dogs are evacuated as waters rise in her neighbourhood after Hurricane Milton caused the Anclote River to flood, in New Port Richey, Florida. – AP

Arriving just two weeks after the misery wrought by Hurricane Helene, the system also knocked out power to more than 3 million customers, flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off a baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane.

Among the most dramatic rescues, Hillsborough County officers found a 14-year-old boy floating on a piece of fence and pulled him onto a boat.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man who was left clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico after his fishing boat was stranded in waters roiled by Hurricane Milton. The agency estimated the man had survived winds of 75 to 90mph (121 to 145km/h) and waves up to 25 feet (7.6m) high during his night on the water.

“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Coast Guard Lt Cmdr Dana Grady said.

Despite the destruction, many people expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse. The hurricane spared Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialised.

US Coast Guard rescues man clinging to ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico. – AP

The storm tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane in Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112km) south of Tampa. Damage was widespread, and water levels may continue to rise for days, but Governor Ron DeSantis said it was not “the worst-case scenario”.

“You face two hurricanes in a couple of weeks – not easy to go through – but I’ve seen a lot of resilience throughout this state,” the governor told a briefing in Sarasota. He said he was “very confident that this area is going to bounce back very, very quickly”.

Five people were killed in tornadoes in the Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, where homes were destroyed, authorities said. Police also found a woman dead under a fallen tree branch.

Neighbourhoods destroyed by tornadoes in Fort Pierce. – AP

Speaking at a White House briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there were reports of as many as 10 fatalities from tornadoes.

At least 340 individuals and 49 pets have been rescued in ongoing efforts, DeSantis said.

South of Tampa, Natasha Shannon and her husband, Terry, felt lucky to be alive after the hurricane peeled the tin roof off their cinder block home in Palmetto. They spent the night in a shelter with their three children and two grandchildren after she pushed them to leave.

“I said, ‘we got to go, because we’re not going to survive this’,” she said.

They returned to find the roof torn into sheets across the street, shredded insulation hanging from exposed ceiling beams and their belongings soaked.

“It ain’t much, but it was ours,” she said. “What little bit we did have is gone.”

The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet (2.5m to 3m) – lower than in the worst place during Helene. The storm also dumped up to 18 inches (450mm) of rain in some areas.

Florida family returns home after Milton rips off roof. – AP

Officials in the hard-hit Florida counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees on roads, blocked bridges and flooding.

Among the dozens of tornadoes was a twister that hit the tiny barrier island of Matlacha, just off Fort Myers. The fishing-and-tourism village also endured a surge, with many of the colourful buildings sustaining serious damage.

Tom Reynolds, 90, spent the morning sweeping out 4 feet of mud and water and collecting chunks of aluminium siding torn off by a twister that also picked up a car and threw it across the road.

Elsewhere on the island, a house was blown into a street, temporarily blocking it. Some structures caught fire. Reynolds said he planned to repair the home he built three decades ago.

“What else am I going to do?” he said.

People are rescued from an apartment complex in Clearwater. – AP

In contrast, city workers on Anna Maria Island were grateful not to be wading through floodwaters as they picked up debris Thursday morning, two weeks after Helene battered buildings and blew in piles of sand up to 6 feet (1.8m) high. Those piles may have helped shield homes from further damage, said Jeremi Roberts of the State Emergency Response Team.

City worker Kati Sands was clearing the streets of siding and broken lights.

“I’m shocked it’s not more,” Sands said. “We lost so much with Helene, there wasn’t much left.”

Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and left at least 230 people dead across the South. In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge could toss it around and compound any damage.

Power was knocked out across much of the state. More than 3.4 million homes and businesses were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.

The fabric that serves as the roof of Tropicana Field – home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St Petersburg – was ripped to shreds by fierce winds. Debris littered the field.

Hurricane Milton leaves Tropicana Field's roof in shreds. – AP

About 80,000 people spent the night in shelters, and thousands of others fled after authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties with a total population of about 7.2 million people.

In Punta Gorda, a 10-foot surge from the Peace River swept into the historic district, damaging homes and depositing six boats along one riverside street. It was the third surge to hit the neighbourhood in three months.

Josh Baldwin said he was leaning toward scrapping his 38-foot boat rather than pay $100,000 to fix it. He couldn’t get insurance because it was moored in Punta Gorda.

“They don’t like to pay out, and this place always gets ruined in hurricanes,” he said.

A boat rests in the street after it was washed ashore in Punta Gorda. – Reuters

A half-block away, information technology workers Kent and Cathy Taylor and their son were using an SUV attached to a chain to pull waterlogged drywall out of the bottom floor of their three-storey home, which they bought in July. The lower level is gutted, but the upper floors are still structurally sound.

“It will be beautiful again – it’s just a nick,” Cathy Taylor said.

As residents raced back to find out whether their homes were destroyed or spared, finding gas was still a challenge. Fuel stations were still closed as far away as Ocala, more than a two and a half hour drive north of where the storm made landfall as a Category 3 near Siesta Key in Sarasota County on Wednesday night.

Natasha Ducre and her husband, Terry, were just feeling lucky to be alive. Milton peeled the tin roof off of their cinderblock home in their neighborhood a few blocks north of the Manatee River, about a 45-minute drive south of Tampa. She pushed to leave as the storm barreled toward them Wednesday night after he resisted evacuating their three-bedroom house where he grew up and where the couple lived with their three kids and two grandchildren. She believes the decision saved their lives.

They returned to find the roof of their home scattered in sheets across the street, the wooden beams of what was their ceiling exposed to the sky. Inside, fiberglass insulation hung down in shreds, their belongings soaked by the rain and littered with chunks of shattered drywall.

“It ain’t much, but it was ours. What little bit we did have is gone,” she said. “It’s gone.”

With shelters no longer available and the cost of a hotel room out of reach, they plan to cram into Terry Ducre's mother’s house for now. After that, they’re not sure.

“I don’t have no answers,” Natasha Ducre said. “What is my next move? What am I going to do?”

Meanwhile, Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld planned to reopen Friday after an assessment of the effects of the storm.

Orlando International Airport, the state’s busiest, said departures for domestic flights and international flights would resume Friday, after resuming domestic arrivals Thursday evening. The airport had minor damage, including a few leaks and downed trees.

Milton prevented Simon Forster, his wife and their two children from returning to Scotland as planned Wednesday evening, so they enjoyed an extra two days of their two-week vacation on a bustling International Drive in Orlando’s tourism district on Thursday. Hurricanes seem to follow them since 2022's Hurricane Ian kept them from returning to Scotland after another Orlando vacation.

“Two extra days here, there are worse places we could be," he said.

Hurricane Milton storm surge brings flooding to Tampa, as seen from the air. – AP

By Thursday afternoon, Milton was headed into the Atlantic Ocean as a post-tropical cyclone with winds of 75mph (120km/h) – just barely hurricane force.

Crossing the bridge from the mainland to Anna Maria Island early Thursday, Police Chief John Cosby breathed a sigh of relief. Nearly all residents had evacuated. There were no injuries or deaths, and the projected storm surge never happened. After fearing that his police department would be underwater, it remained dry.“It’s nice to have a place to come back to,” he said.

During a town hall event, aimed at engaging Latino voters, Vice President Kamala Harris emphasised the government’s ongoing efforts to provide disaster relief and resources through FEMA and reassured hurricane victims of their entitlement to federal aid.

I was just on a secure meeting today with the president, with the secretary of defence, with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, with the head of the Coast Guard, with the generals representing NORTHCOM (United States Northern Command), talking about how the federal, state and local governments are working together for the benefit of the people on the ground," Harris said.

'To work in getting relief that is about bringing FEMA resources on the ground', Kamala Harris said at a town hall in Las Vegas. - Reuters