Natasha Ducre surveys the kitchen of her devastated home, which lost most of its roof during the passage of Hurricane Milton, in Palmetto, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Ducre, her husband, three children and two grandkids, rode out the storm in a government shelter and returned to find their home unlivable and much of their furniture and belongings destroyed by rainwater. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Many Florida residents were returning to their homes Thursday after Hurricane Milton pummelled the state, the second major hurricane in two weeks.
Millions of people in several counties had been ordered to evacuate earlier this week as Milton approached.
In Palmetto, southwest of Tampa, resident Natasha Ducre and her family of seven returned from a government shelter to find their home demolished and unlivable — furniture and other belongings destroyed by heavy rainwater. The roof in her kitchen had collapsed, with debris now carpeting the floor. Their home destroyed, siblings Saboria, 4, and Messiah Tyler, 3, had nowhere to sleep but the backseat of a car.
Farther north in St. Petersburg, powerful winds and rain shredded the roof of the Tropicana Field Stadium, home to the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball, where several stadium workers were taking shelter. The team said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done.
Milton slammed into Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, killing at least 5 people, spawning tornadoes and leaving more than 3 million homes and businesses without power. The state’s central Gulf Coast was hardest hit by the outages, including Hardee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.
The storm came after Hurricane Helene ravaged several southeastern states as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 220 people.
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Max Watts, of Buford, Ga., walks in the parking lot to check on a trailer parked outside the hotel where he is riding out Hurricane Milton with coworkers, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. Watts, who works for a towing company, was deployed with colleagues to Florida to aid in the aftermath of the storm. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A man rests as other carry supplies into Gibbs High School, a government storm shelter where 1,700 people had already sought shelter by late morning, ahead of the arrival Hurricane Milton, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The Segundo family, who evacuated from nearby Davis Island, plays a board game with their dog Cassie looking on, as Hurricane Milton makes landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast, at Hyatt Place Tampa Downtown hotel in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Siblings Saboria, 4, left, and Messiah Tyler, 3, nap in the backseat of a car after the roof was torn off the home where they lived with their mom, grandparents, an aunt and an uncle during the passage of Hurricane Milton, in Palmetto, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. The family of 7 rode out the storm in a government shelter, and returned home to find most of the roof gone and their furniture and belongings destroyed by rainwater. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A homeless person sleeps under a wheelchair alongside a parking garage in deserted downtown Tampa, Fla., during the approach of Hurricane Milton, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A water rescue team member walks through flood waters at an apartment complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A man and child leave a rescue boat after high floodwaters entered their apartment in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A water rescue boat moves in floodwaters at an apartment complex in the aftermath of hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A high rise construction crane broke apart and crashed into the building across the street during Hurricane Milton on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
A house, center, lies toppled off its stilts after the passage of Hurricane Milton, alongside an empty lot where a home was swept away by Hurricane Helen, in Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A car is submerged in floodwater at an apartment complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Ron Rook, who said he was looking for people in need of help or debris to clear, walks through windy and rainy conditions on a deserted street in downtown Tampa, Fla., during the approach of Hurricane Milton, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
