The latest from Milton:

• At least 4 dead from tornadoes in St. Lucie County.
• 3.2 million without power throughout the state.
• Florida's governor believes storm was significant, but not "worst-case scenario."
• Milton compounds misery for many impacted by Helene late last month.

Hurricane Milton barrelled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, pounding cities with ferocious winds and rain, and whipping up a barrage of tornadoes. It caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought recently by Helene.

The storm tracked to the south in its final hours before making landfall in Siesta Key near Sarasota, about 112 kilometres south of Tampa. While Tampa was spared a direct hit, the storm brought up to 45 centimetres of rain to some parts of its metropolitan area, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

While Milton caused a lot of damage and water levels may continue to rise for days, DeSantis said it was not "the worst-case scenario." The governor said Milton's storm surge was not as expansive as Hurricane Helene, nor did it reach that storm's peak heights. Helene made landfall on Sept. 27, with extensive cleanup from its wrath still ongoing in parts of the state. 

• Are you a Canadian affected by Hurricane Milton? Tell us about it in an email at ask@cbc.ca.

Before Milton even made landfall, tornadoes were touching down across the state. The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, in St. Lucie County on Florida's Atlantic Coast, was hit particularly hard, with homes destroyed and some residents killed. St. Lucie officials confirmed at least four deaths from tornadoes that preceded landfall.

St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson posted a video to Facebook showing a 10,000-square-foot iron building that had been twisted into a crumpled heap by a tornado. The structure was where the sheriff's office kept its patrol cars, but luckily no one was inside when it fell, Pearson said.

As dawn broke Thursday, officials repeated that the danger had not passed: Storm surge remained a concern in many parts of Florida and tropical storm warnings were in place for much of the east-central coast. Officials in the hard-hit counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges and flooding.

"We'll let you know when it's safe to come out," Sheriff Chad Chronister of Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, said on Facebook.

WATCH l Rescues take place across the state:

Emergency crews rescue Florida residents from hurricane flooding

First responders in Clearwater, Fla., used boats early Thursday to rescue people from an apartment complex surrounded by floodwaters. City officials were urging people to stay in place, saying on social media that downed power lines and fallen trees present a ‘significant danger.’

Home of MLB's Rays damaged

The storm knocked out power across a large section of Florida, with more than 3.4 million homes and businesses without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.

Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg, appeared badly damaged. The fabric that serves as the domed stadium's roof was ripped to shreds by the fierce winds. It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside. Multiple cranes were also toppled in the storm, the weather service said.

St. Petersburg residents also could no longer get water from their household taps because a water main break led the city to shut down service. Mayor Ken Welch had told residents to expect long power outages and the possible shutdown of the sewer system.

Just inland from Tampa, the flooding in Plant City was "absolutely staggering," according city manager Bill McDaniel. Emergency crews rescued 35 people overnight, said McDaniel, who estimated the city had received 34 centimetres of rain.

"We have flooding in places and to levels that I've never seen, and I've lived in this community for my entire life," he said in a video posted online Thursday morning.

About 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane came ashore, many of them mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, said Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

WATCH l Significant hurricane, but storm surge shy of Helene's greatest heights: governor:

Hurricane was 'significant' but not 'worst-case scenario,' Florida governor says

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said early Thursday that the storm was damaging, but the storm surge 'as initially reported has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.'

Floods expected inland

About 90 minutes after making landfall, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm. By 8 a.m. ET on Thursday, the the storm was packing up winds of up to 140 kilometres per hour and was 120 kilometres east-northeast of Cape Canaveral, on the state's east coast.

In many places along the western coast of Florida, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of Helene debris before Milton's winds and storm surge could toss it around and compound any damage. Storm surge flooded streets and homes and left at least 230 people dead across several southern U.S. states, including a dozen people in Florida's seaside Pinellas County alone.

Jackie Curnick said she wrestled with her decision to stay at home in Sarasota, just north of where the storm made landfall. She and her husband started packing Monday to evacuate, but they struggled to find available hotel rooms, and the few they came by were too expensive. With a two-year-old son and a baby girl due Oct. 29, Curnick said there were too many unanswered questions to consider.

Video taken during the storm showed howling winds and sheets of rain lashing their glass-enclosed swimming pool as their son and dog watched. Trees shook violently.

"The thing is it's so difficult to evacuate in a peninsula," she said ahead of the storm. "In most other states, you can go in any direction to get out. In Florida, there are only so many roads that take you north or south."

More than 60 per cent of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg were out of gas Wednesday night, according to GasBuddy.

DeSantis and other Florida officials cautioned residents who did leave to be patient in returning home and wait for assessments from their local authorities. The governor also gave a warning about walking or performing tasks in standing water, which can contain bacteria.

Officials at the local level echoed much of that advice.

Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche said in a video statement on social media that the damage from Hurricane Milton doesn't appear as bad as initially feared and the search and rescue operations are underway.

"My ask is please don't rush home right now, we're still trying to assess what's going on," Troche said. "We still have downed power lines, we still have trees in the roadway."