Hurricane Milton makes landfall at Siesta Key, Florida

Hurricane Milton generated over three dozen tornadoes across the state of Florida with widespread damage observed including above at Palm Beach Gardens. (WeatherMatrix)

Powerful hurricane Milton moved inland Wednesday evening around 8:30PM near Siesta Key, Florida, just west of Sarasota. The storm had winds of 195km/h (120mph) at landfall. There were reports of significant damage in many locations, as winds gusted to 172km/h (107mph) at Venice Beach.

Thursday morning, Milton has moved back over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, located 120KM east-northeast of Cape Canaveral. Milton will now transition into a strong extratropical storm passing south of Bermuda over the next day or so.

Over 300mm of rain fell in just a few hours north of the track of hurricane Milton, producing widespread flash flooding. (St John's County Sherriff)

Back in Florida, power is out to over three million homes and businesses. Widespread damage has occurred, including a crane collapsing on the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper building in St. Pete, and the destruction of the roof at Tropicana Place, home of the MLB Rays in Tampa.

The big story with Milton will likely be the large tornado outbreak. Tornadoes are very common with landfalling hurricane, but they tend to be weaker and short-lived compared to their midwestern cousins. Such was not the case with Milton on Wednesday. Over 125 tornado warnings were issued across the state, with 38 confirmed tornadoes. Many of them were large, long-lasting wedge tornadoes, producing significant damage, injuries and loss of life. In St Lucie County, 4 deaths were reported.

Hydro One from Ontario has sent additional crews south to help with power restoration in Florida. Over 100 employees were already on the ground in Georgia helping to restore power lost during Hurricane Helene. (Hydro One)

In St Petersburg, over 400mm of rain fell in just a few hours producing flash flooding.

First responders are spreading out across the state Thursday morning to assess damage and search for those who may be injured or trapped in their homes.

Hurricane Milton was the third storm this year to hit Florida after Debby and Helene. While Milton was strong, dry air surging into the southern part of the storm just prior to landfall, helped to alleviate some of the impacts from the storm.