Millions of Floridians remained without power Friday morning after Hurricane Milton plowed its way out of the state and into the Atlantic Ocean.

The devastating storm, which hit Florida at Category 3 strength, left at least 14 people dead after tearing a path of destruction across the state's western coast upon making landfall late Wednesday. In its aftermath, neighborhoods were flooded, homes destroyed, the roof of Tropicana Field torn off and a crane had toppled into an office building.

Despite the destruction, Gov. Ron DeSantis noted Milton was not as severe as he and other officials had feared.

"The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario," DeSantis said at a briefing Thursday. He cited the storm weakening before landfall and said the storm surge "as initially reported has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene."

DeSantis said Tampa experienced a reverse storm surge that drove water away from the shoreline rather than overwhelming the city.

On Thursday, power outages inched higher as the storm exited off the eastern coast of the state.

While the state's western coast bore the brunt of Hurricane Milton, Milton's impacts stretched far from landfall. Others inland still dealt with power outages and some blocked roads.

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Hurricane Milton:Milton caused heavy damage. But some of Florida's famous beaches may have gotten a pass.

Florida power outage map

As of Friday morning, 2.2 million Floridians were still without power, according to the USA TODAY power outage tracker.

The west-central coast continues to be the hardest hit, with 483,225 residents in Hillsborough County and another 460,544 in Pinellas County still in the dark. In Pasco County, 113,745 power outages were reported.

Further south, 152,471 residents in Sarasota County and 129,181 in Manatee County were without power Friday morning. On the state's east coast, 139,835 home and businesses were without power in Volusia County.

In Polk County, south of Orlando, 136,292 Floridians had no power.

Restoration efforts following outages

Once power outages begin, restoration efforts will be launched in force wherever and whenever it is safe to do so.

Florida Power and Light Company said it restored power to more than 730,000 customers as of Thursday afternoon, the company said in its latest news release. The company has deployed a force of about 17,000 people to assess damage, coordinate with local emergency responders and, ultimately, restore power.

"While storm surge, flooding, downed trees and tornadoes are presenting restoration challenges, damage-assessment teams across the state are helping FPL to send the right personnel and right equipment to the right places to restore power safely and as quickly as possible," FPL said in a statement.

Power restoration will be prioritized to restore power to the largest number of customers as quickly as possible. According to FPL, priorities are given to:

  • Power plants and damaged lines and substations
  • Critical facilities such as hospitals, police and fire stations, communication facilities, water treatment plants and transportation providers
  • Major thoroughfares with supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and other needed community services.
  • Smaller groups and local areas.

Contributing: John Bacon, Trevor Hughes, Christopher Cann, Chris Kenning, Jorge L. Ortiz, Thao Nguyen, Jeanine Santucci, N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Julia Gomez, USA TODAY

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

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