A bulldozer removes debris from a road after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Matlacha, Florida. Photo: Reuters

More than 20 urban search and rescue teams are moving into the area, conducting door-to-door searches, with over 135,000 officers involved in the effort. Photo: Reuters

Hurricane Milton brought powerful winds, a dangerous storm surge and flooding to much of Florida after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm.

It weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved through Florida early Thursday.

Tornadoes kill 4

It caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.

Before Milton even made landfall, heavy rain and tornadoes lashed parts of southern Florida Wednesday morning. The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, was hit particularly hard, with homes destroyed and some residents killed.

Four people were killed in tornadoes there, the St Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

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.

Florida is home to many from the Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands.