The authorities of the state of Florida reported that several people in St. Lucie County became victims of the hurricane - they lived in a home for the elderly. There is no exact information about the number of victims of the hurricane yet. Rescue teams, representatives of the fire service and the police went to the scene. The search work continues.

Despite the fact that the hurricane's power has been lowered to the third category, the destruction is likely to be very large-scale. The hurricane reached land at about 20:35 local time near the settlement of Siesta Key in Florida, with a maximum wind speed of 193 km/h, according to the US National Hurricane Monitoring Center.

The tornadoes that the hurricane brought with it destroyed more than 125 homes. Almost 1.3 million people remain without electricity.

It is expected that Milton will be accompanied by storm surges of enormous height, heavy rains and powerful winds. According to forecasts, the hurricane will remain in force at least until Thursday morning.

The states of Mississippi and South Carolina announced that they will send National Guard units to Florida to assist local authorities in eliminating the consequences of the disaster, reports mir24.tv.