As the cleanup efforts began in earnest, the state's vital tourism industry is beginning to return to normal this morning.

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.

A lucky sailor was rescued from almost certain death amid the fallout of Hurricane Milton yesterday after he was found floating adrift in the Gulf of Mexico clinging to an ice box.

The brutal storm whipped up horrific waves that smashed into his boat and disabled it, leaving him with no choice but to place a panicked call to the coastguard station in St Petersburg around 6.45pm local time.

Coastguard officials lost contact with him and were unable to mount a rescue on Wednesday with Milton bearing down on Florida's west coast, sparking fears he would perish on the raging seas overnight.

But with the hurricane having ripped inland by Thursday morning, a coastguard helicopter embarked on a last-ditch search and rescue mission - and miraculously located the desperate mariner floating some 30 miles out to sea, using an open cooler as a floatation device.

The dark past of 'Lieutenant Dan' has emerged as thousands donate to the Hurricane Milton GoFundMe page set up for him by a kind-hearted University of Tampa student. Read the full story here:

The death toll in Florida has hit 16 after Hurricane Milton battered The Sunshine State, ripping communities to pieces, just two weeks after the misery wrought by Hurricane Helene.

Floridians have been left clearing downed trees and powerlines, as well as mopping up flooded neighborhoods after the storm made landfall as a Category 3 Hurricane.

While it has since made its way out into the Atlantic Ocean and clear of the east coast of the country, the true size of its damage is still being picked through by already broken locals and salvage teams.

While Milton did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared in Florida, the clean-up operation could take many weeks or months for some people.

There were at least 16 hurricane-related deaths, CBS News cited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as saying.

In St. Lucie County, an advance flurry of tornadoes killed several people, including at least two in the senior-living Spanish Lakes communities, according to local officials.

Some 2.6 million homes and businesses in Florida overall were without power in the early hours of Friday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. Some have been waiting days for power to be restored after Hurricane Helene hit the area.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis cautioned on Thursday that although the state had avoided the 'worst-case scenario,' the damage was still significant.

DeSantis added that at least 340 people and 49 pets have already been rescued in the ongoing efforts.

A Coast Guard helicopter managed to rescue a man who was left holding on to a cooler in the mniddle of the ocean after Hurricane Milton.

Footage of the incident shows a chopper with the Coast Guard Air Station in Miami attempting to swoop in and pluck the man from the choppy waters.

He was seen holding onto the cooler some 30 miles off Longboat Key on Wednesday after the storm crushed parts of the state.

According to authorities, he was taken to Tampa General Hospital for care. It's unclear what condition the man was in.

A glamorous influencer who refused to leave behind her fancy condo in Hurricane Milton has been slammed after sharing a video of herself after the storm wrecked her home.

Allie Rae, 40 who lives in Clearwater, Florida, had shared videos of herself onto her TikTok page of her 12th floor Penthouse being wrecked by the storm.

The influencer had made a post two days ago explaining that she had been on vacation and didn't have time to properly prepare herself for the weather.

Despite shelters being available, Rae said that her family had decided to wait it out 12-floors up and that she 'wasn't worried about flooding'.

She said: 'I'm sure up to the third floor is going to be under water. We are going to be trapped up here, but outside of that we have plenty of food, plenty of water.'

Rae also added that she knew it 'wasn't a wise idea', before saying there was 'very minimal options'.

Subsequent clips show her home being battered by the intense hurricane, with her home also flooding due to the weather.

After the storm passed Rae then went on to share another video saying she 'vastly underestimated the power of the wind'.

She added: 'Not going to be the girl to come on here and ask for sympathy, play the victim. I stayed, I know this, I am well aware.'

One person commented: 'If only you had been warned it would be that bad!', while another said: 'I’m genuinely curious what you thought would happen?'

Another posted: 'Sweetie, I live in Australia, and even I understood the warnings.'

At least 15 people are now dead from Hurricane Milton, after a man was hit by a car while attempting to cut down a tree.

Bruce Kinsler, 68, was working as part of a 'push crew' that was helping clear the wreakage after the storm hit Polk County.

At around 5:52 a.m. Thursday, he was in the process fo cutting down a tree blocking a highway when he was struck by a vehicle driven by a co-worker joining the recovery effort.

'The tragedy of this incident is compounded by the fact that Bruce Kinsler was killed serving the residents of this county,' said Bill Braswell, Polk County Commission Board Chair.

'We ask a lot of the employees as public servants, and they respond to the call. For this to happen is just a tragedy.'

St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed at least six deaths in the county Thursday.

The six dead in St. Lucie combine with two dead in St. Petersburg, four dead in Volusia County and one each in Hillsborough and Citrus County.

Nearly one thousand Floridians have been rescued by the Florida National Guard and other search teams in the state, Ron DeSantis said Thursday night.

Officially, 999 people and 105 animals have been rescued by Urban Search and Rescue Teams and the Florida National Guard.

At least 1,600 personnel and ten swift water teams have been used in the effort, alongside several thousand service members and assistance from other states.

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Donald Trump for his attacks on the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and suggested he was wrongly trying to turn the deadly storms to his political advantage.

Attending a town hall sponsored by Univision in Las Vegas, Harris was asked about complaints that federal officials have bungled disaster recovery efforts. She responded, "In this crisis - like in so many issues that affect the people of our country - I think it so important that leadership recognizes the dignity" to which people are entitled.

'I have to stress that this is not a time for people to play politics,' Harris added.

Those comments came after the former president spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, offering sympathy to people affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the latter of which came ashore in Florida Wednesday night.

Melbourne International Orlando, the city's secondary airport, will join Tampa International in reopening on Friday, with arrivals set to resume Thursday evening.

The airport had a 30 by 40 foot hole ripped in its roof by Hurricane Milton.

Melbourne International Orlando airport saw part of its skylight ceiling collapse into the terminal building around 2am Thursday, FloridaToday reported.

Dramatic footage captured the moment the panels came tumbling onto the floor.

Melbourne was closed at the time, having halted commercial flights Wednesday morning in anticipation of Milton.

Bosses are planning urgent repair work and hope to have the airport reopened by 9am on Friday.

Melbourne International mainly serves domestic airlines flying to other east coast destinations.

Some flights from the UK do land there due to its proximity to the Port Canaveral cruise terminal.

The city's main airport - Orlando International Airport - is also closed and did not appear to sustain any major damage.

At least 13 people are now dead from Hurricane Milton, after St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed at least six deaths in the county Thursday.

The six dead in St. Lucie combine with two dead in St. Petersburg, four dead in Volusia County and one in Citrus County.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell says victims of both Hurricanes Helene and Milton will have to file separately for relief from each storm.

'If somebody has had impacts from both Helene, as well as Milton, I actually need them to apply for both scenarios, for both of those incidents because they will be eligible for different funding and additional funding, as a result of having double damages,' Criswell said Wednesday.

She warned victims to make their filings as specific and clear as possible in writing out the damage they suffered.

“The caution that I give is making sure that as people are applying for one that they’re listing the dates as it relates to that one.

‘Cause what we will see, we will see some bounce back, and we’ll have to get more information if you apply for Milton, but you’re listing damages from Helene,” she said.

FEMA personnel are on the ground in the areas affected to help.

Nearly two thousand gas stations are without fuel as Floridians continue to deal with devastation on Thursday after Hurricane Milton slammed into the state's Golf Coast, leaving at least 11 people dead and over 3 million without power.

Around 25% of the nearly 8,000 filling stations in the state are out of gasoline, with over 63% in Tampa and St. Petersburg, the hardest cities hit by the storm.

In Sarasota, around 44% are without gas, while 37% of stations in Fort Myers and Naples and 36.5% of stations in Gainesville are out of fuel, according to GasBuddy.

St Petersburg's Albert Whitted Airport was nearly flattened by Hurricane Milton, with astonishing aerial photos today showing the extent of the damage.

Helicopters remain in tact surrounded by building debris after a hangar at the airport was torn apart by the high-speed winds.

Power was still knocked out across much of the state on Thursday afternoon, with more than 3.4 million homes and businesses without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.

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.

But many people also expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse. The system spared Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialized.

Governor Ron DeSantis said that after flying over some of the hard-hit areas, he saw that many of the homes built in recent years fared well in the storm.

'Another thing I think I can say — our buildings that were built in the last 20 or 30 years, they did very well,' he said.

A water rescue boat moves in floodwaters at an apartment complex in Clearwater in the aftermath of hurricane Milton.

On Wednesday, guests were afforded the opportunity to buy sandwich 'kits' for $10.

The kits included a jar of peanut butter, full loaf of bread and strawberry jam.

Tampa officials said on Thursday that the Tampa International airport will reopen its doors at 8am Friday.

The airport sustained minimal damage, although Milton damaged six jet bridges used to board planes, and crews are repairing leaks in the main terminal.

The airport said the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the control tower to resume full operations, roads and parking garages are in good shape, and there are no issues with the wastewater system.

The airport’s fuel depot lost power and is running on generator power while repairs are underway.

Speaking at a White House briefing, Mayorkas said falsehoods are having a negative effect on survivors and hurting the morale of rescue workers.

He noted a particular falsehood that federal employees will take the land of the people they’re helping, meaning that some victims of the storms are reticent to receive aid.

Mayorkas said the government is 'seeing horrific hate speech of all types, propagated on online platforms' pertaining to people trying to help address the damage from the storm as it’s been 'a motivating force for people to do harm and it has got to stop.'

A woman was pictured in her North Fort Myers home on Thursday.

The entire roof of the house had been swiped away by the storm's winds overnight.

Below, Natasha Ducre surveys the kitchen of her devastated home, which lost most of its roof during the passage of Hurricane Milton, in Palmetto.

The woman, who goes by the name Kricketfelt on TikTok, made sure to keep her followers updated throughout the night after insisting that she would not evacuate for the intense storm because her husband built her a 'commercial grade' home.

Despite thinking her home would remain untouched by the Category 3 storm, the mother-of-three lost power and experienced multiple leaks from her porch ceiling.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Fox Weather correspondent Robert Ray recounted how he was nearly killed when wind gusts from Hurricane Milton downed a pine tree as his team reported live on the storm's impact in Bradenton, Florida.

'Moments after I got done with the [on-air] report, a massive tree just fell. It scared the you know what out of us. And thank God I wasn't standing there. I may not be talking to you right now,' he said.

Ray posted video of the aftermath on X and shared exclusive images with the Mail.

The veteran weather reporter said Hurricane Milton's winds were the strongest he has felt this hurricane season.

'There's no question in my mind that we experienced wind speeds of likely 110 to 115 last night.'

Ray was also struck by the scale of devastation that he witnessed while driving up and down Florida's west coast as the storm made landfall.

'The roadways were decimated with downed trees, downed power lines, structures that were ripped off and still blowing across the streets,' he said.

'There were debris fields all over Interstate 75 from the Bradenton area to Tampa,' Ray continued. 'In fact, there was no much debris that several times we had to slam on the brakes and almost hit structures that were literally sitting on I-75.'

A 14 year-old boy was rescued while floating on a piece of fence through Milton's floodwaters.

The unidentified youngster was picked up by Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies outside a grocery store in Tampa on Thursday morning.

Incredible footaged showed two deputies approaching him on a boat while a third one filmed.

The boy could be seen struggling to stay afloat in water that appeared to be at least six feet deep.

On seeing the deputies, he came off the piece of fence and had to swim to keep his head above the water.

Two of the cops hoisted the child onto the boat. He did not say anything, but appeared confused and upset.

It is unclear why he was on his own and where his family was at the time.

The death toll for Milton so far stands at 11, but is set to rise far higher. Eleven million people are under a flood warning, with just under three million still without power.

The young boy can be seen floating in the deep water in a flooded grocery store parking lot in Tampa, Florida

The traumatized-looking youngster is hauled onto a boat by Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies

Officials have reported at least 11 deaths throughout Florida as a result of Hurricane Milton, according to an NBC News count.

At least five deaths were caused by a tornado in St Lucie county, according to authorities.Pinellas county reported two deaths and Volucia county three.

One death was reported a after a tree fell on a car in Citrus County and killed the driver.

Meanwhile 12 million people are under flood alerts as the Gulf Coast deals with floodings and debris from tornados and high winds.

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 3.4million Floridians remain without power.

The storm compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.

Damage was widespread, and water levels may continue to rise for days, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not 'the worst-case scenario.

The deadly storm surge feared for Tampa never materialized, though the storm dumped up to 18 inches of rain in some areas, the governor said.

The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet — lower than in the worst place during Helene.

Stu Ostro, senior meteorologist at the Weather Channel, shared the eerie photo on X, displaying it next to a similar image of hurricane Matthew in 2016.

• A vehicle in the flooded waters in St. Petersburg where residents, who live in a nonevac and high elevation area, unexpectedly had water in their home after it spilled from a retention pond Wednesday night from Milton.

• Mallory Tollett, 12, comforts her dog Maggie after a suspected tornado went through her family's property along Southeast Azimuth Way as Hurricane Milton bands move through Port Salerno, Florida.

• Matt Schafer uses a water hose to clean the mud off of the floor at the Celtic Ray Public House restaurant/bar in Punta Gorda after it was inundated with flood waters when Hurricane Milton

• President Biden posted a video message on Thursday morning as Floridians woke up to Hurricane Milton's aftermath.
• Biden praised first-responders and officials risking their own lives to help rescue others.
• 'Kamala and I will be there for as long as it takes to rebuild,' Biden said.

Florida troopers said a dog abandoned on the road in Tampa was taken to the vet and received a clean billof health.

An unidentified Florida Highway Patrolman rescued the dog on Wednesday as the area was staring to flood.

Homes along Florida's coasts lie in ruins as neighborhoods have been left drowning in storm surge and streets are choked with debris and devastated by torrential downpours with as much as two inches accumulating per hour.

More than three million homes and businesses were without power Thursday morning as the first casualties were reported even before Milton made landfall around 8:30pm EST.

The wreckage continues as residents scour the areas assessing the irreversible damage caused by one of the strongest hurricanes in American history and the ninth of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.

• Two deaths have been reported in St Petersburg, but it's unclear what role the storm played in the fatalities.
• Police chief Anthony Holloway said one death was medical and the other was 'someone found in a park.'
• Another four deaths were reported due to tornadoes in St Lucie.

• While Hurricane Milton has passed through Florida, central and western Florida remain in danger of flooding, according to officials.
• A flood watch is still in effect for the counties of Charlotte, Lee, Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Sarasota, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Pinellas, Polk, and Sumter.
• In Naples, water levels reached more than 5.2 feet over normal high tides - the second-highest on record.
• Meanwhile St Petersburg, seen below, saw over 18 inches of rain just on Wednesday - the city's rainiest day on record.

Former president Donald Trump sent a message to Floridians following Hurricane Milton's landfall Wednesday night.

Trump said he was 'deeply saddened by the devastation being reported.'

'it sounds like it's as bad as it gets,' he added, though Governor Ron DeSantis has said the storm was thankfully not the 'worst case scenario' expected.

Trump then pivoted to campaigning, saying 'hopefully on January 20th you're going to have somebody who's really going to help you like never before.'

While the storm was not as forceful as feared, tornados sparked by high winds brought devastation to several Floridian cities and towns.

Entire homes were pulled from the ground in Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island, where locals were surveying the extent of the damage Thursday morning.

The island had already been severely affected by Hurricane Helene just a week prior.

Tampa police got 15 people including children to safety after a tree crashed into their home during Hurricane Milton.

Police received a 0911 call from the residents of the single-story home Wednesday night.

Officers who were taken shelter two miles away responded to the house during a break in the storm.

A policer officer in DeLand was driving amid the storm when a tree fell on a vehicle in front of him in a terrifying moment caught on dashcam.

The footage shows the tree's branches smashing most of the car's windshield on impact.

The police department sais the vehicle's driver was thankfully not injured, but it was a reminder for people to stay off the roads.

DeLand is about 34 miles from Orlando in central Florida, and a three-hour drive from Sarasota county, where Milton made landfall Wednesday night.

Tampa resident Mohammed Nijem recently went viral after local news outlet Spectrum Bay News 9 shared an image to X, formerly Twitter, of the extreme preparations that he took ahead of Hurricane Milton.

Mohammed placed six enormous straps around his one-story home in a bid to keep it from washing or blowing away when the storm hits.

Officials are conducting dozens of rescues in Florida on Thursday following Hurrican Milton's landfall overnight.

Police rescued several people trapped in an apartment building in Clearwater Thursday morning, as seen below.

Meanwhile Tampa police rescued over 135 residents from an assisted living facility that had been affected by the storm surge.

However, the Tampa Bay area appeared to have escaped without the catastrophic flooding that had been feared.

A social media account for residents of the Peach State shared footage of all the Florida tags currently in town.

Georgia has been receiving Floridians who were forced to evacuate their homes ahead of Hurricane Milton.

The reporter, 57, was covering the catastrophic disaster live for CNN in Bradenton, just a few miles from Siesta Key, when he the piece of debris smacked him in the face.

He quickly recovered while shouting: 'Woah! That wasn’t good. We’ll probably go inside shortly.'

Flager County sheriff Tick Staly told sex offenders they woult not be allowed in shelters and directed them to stay in the local jaij for their protection during Hurricane Milton.

'Anyone who comes in [a shelter] will be checked to make sure they're not a fugitive, not a sex offender,' the sheriff said on Wednesday.

'We will accommodate you in the lobby of that [jail] building. You’ve probably seen it before,' Staly said about sex offenders who had to evacuate their homes.

However, Marion County took a different approach and set up a separate shelter for those on the sex offender registry.

Four people were killed by tornadoes that touched down in St. Lucie County, Florida, on Wednesday, local officials said.

St. Lucie County sits on Floria's east coast, with the killer twisters striking a retirement community.

Further details on the identities of those killed or how they died have yet to be shared.

Orlando's second main airport had a 30 by 40 foot hole ripped in its roof by Hurricane Milton.

Melbourne International Orlando airport saw part of its skylight ceiling collapse into the terminal building around 2am Thursday, FloridaToday reported.

Dramatic footage captured the moment the panels came tumbling onto the floor.

Melbourne was closed at the time, having halted commercial flights Wednesday morning in anticipation of Milton.

Bosses are planning urgent repair work and hope to have the airport reopened by 9am on Friday.

Melbourne International mainly serves domestic airlines flying to other east coast destinations.

Some flights from the UK do land there due to its proximity to the Port Canaveral cruise terminal.

The city's main airport - Orlando International Airport - is also closed and did not appear to sustain any major damage.

Its bosses have yet to announce a reopening date.

• This is the shocking moment Florida residents caught in Hurricane Milton opened their car door to find an agitated alligator snapping at the tire.
• Locals were left hysterical as their car became swamped in fast moving water and attacked by 'a big f**king alligator'.
• Wildlife experts have warned that animals may be affected by the storms and driven into populated areas, left disoriented and more aggressive from the stress.

• Milton made landfall in Siesta Key as a Category 3 Wednesday at 8pm EST with winds
• The storm surge peaked at 8 to 10 feet in Sarasota County.
• Pinellas and Hillsborough counties saw as much as 17 inches of rain in some parts in just six hours, with officials issueing a flash flood emergency.
• Overnight, several high wind gusts were reported: 92 mph in Marineland, 83 mph near Ponce de Leon Inlet, 73 mph on South Hutchinson Island, 84 mph at Daytona Beach International Airport, 77 mph at a NASA weather station at Cape Canaveral and 62 mph at Melbourne International Airport.
• At least four deaths were reported in St. Lucie County on Florida's Atlantic Coast when an unconfirmed tornado flattened a retirement community
• The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission deployed more than 130 officers who’ve teamed up with many others for search and rescue operations, which are ongoing Thursday morning.
• Milton powered east-northeast across Florida to the Atlantic Ocean and offshore early Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an 8 a.m. ET update.
• It weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved through the state early Thursday.

A woman walks along a flooded street in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton on October 10, 2024 in Osprey, Florida.

The best way for people to stay safe, according to the FWC, is to stay alert and give wildlife their space. They have also suggested anyone avoid helping or rescuing wildlife during or after a storm if it would put them in danger.

Severe weather conditions can often displace and disorient wildlife, due to high winds, and flooding can allow more access to unusual areas.

Disorientation and stress caused by storms and hurricanes can often lead wildlife to act differently and potentially more aggressively than their typical nature.

The town of Matlacha and Pine Island were devastated by tornadoes brought by Hurricane Milton on Wednesday.

Officials say they responded to several structure failures after several tornados slammed through the coastal area.

Images from the scene showed debris and pieces of buildings thrown on the streets, with firefighters responding to a home on fire.

Police have told people to stay off the roads as multiple power lines and poles are down.

The devastation has left Matlacha cut off from the rest of the state and not accesible by car.

Matlacha is a fishing village with a population of about 500 near Cape Coral and Fort Mayers.

A Royal Caribbean passenger has vowed to never cruise again after a hellish voyage during Hurricane Milton.

Kim Eberhardt says the unfortunately-named Harmony of the Seas suffered 'turbulence and thrashing' as it sailed through the Gulf of Mexico towards Honduras and Costa Maya.

'It was just rocky. It was rough rocky.' Eberthardt told WVUE.

The cruise, which departed from Galveston in Texas on Sunday, canceled two of its planned stops.

Eberhardt says the vessel was 'swerving around in the water' while its captain tried to avoid the worst of Milton.

The Harmony of the Seas is now sailing towards calmer waters off the Mexican paradise isle of Cozumel ahead of its return to Galveston on Sunday.

Passengers have been offered future cruise credits to make up for the weather disruption - but Eberhardt doesn't want them.

'We have no desire. I just feel like at this point — I will fly somewhere,' she said.

Kim Eberhardt is pictured about her Royal Caribbean cruise from hell, which was severely disrupted by Hurricane Milton

Eberhardt says the cruise from Galveston in Texas around the Gulf of Mexico suffered very rough conditions as Milton blew in

An onboard map shows the awkward route the ship's captain had to take to avoid the worst of the weather