The Latest: Milton causes widespread power outages and several deaths in Florida

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 as it plowed through Florida late Wednesday into Thursday. Power outages were widespread and at least six deaths have been reported from severe weather.

The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph) when it roared ashore in Siesta Key, south of the populated Tampa Bay region, the National Hurricane Center said. High winds, heavy rain and flooding hit areas including densely populated Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

Follow AP’s coverage of tropical weather at https://apnews.com/hub/hurricanes.

Here’s the latest:

Kamala Harris pledges federal help to Florida officials in the wake of Helene and Milton

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Vice President Kamala Harris is pledging to those who have been affected by Hurricane Milton that “we will be with you every step of the way as you recover and rebuild."

Harris spoke at a rally in Chandler, Arizona, on Thursday night, saying the hurricane “has cut a path of devastation across Florida” right on the heels of Hurricane Helene.

Harris said that she had spoken with Republican and Democratic local officials to pledge ongoing federal help, adding, “That is who we are.”

Milton was not as destructive as expected, FEMA official says

SARASOTA, Fla. — FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Thursday that Milton's impact was not as destructive as feared, but she is heading out Friday to see damage from some of the tornadoes that touched down in the Florida.

“We did not have the extreme impacts of the worst case scenario that we prepared for, but there’s still so many people that have been impacted by this,” she said at a press briefing in Sarasota.

She said the 38 twisters that touched down in the state cause "significant damage to a level that Floridians have not seen from tornadoes,” she said.

On Thursday, she toured flooded roads and debris, some of which was left from Hurricane Helene, she said.

I-75 south is crowded with people returning after fleeing Milton

OCALA, Fla. — A flood of vehicles headed south Thursday evening on Interstate 75, the main highway that runs through the middle of Florida, as relief workers and evacuated residents headed towards the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

At times, some cars even drove on the left-hand shoulder of the road, adding an extra travel lane to the highway. Cars, bucket trucks and fuel tankers streamed by, along with portable bathroom trailers and a convoy of emergency vehicles from the Bay and Escambia County Sheriff’s Offices.

As residents raced south to find out whether their homes were destroyed or spared, finding gas was still a challenge, with fuel stations still closed as far away as Ocala, more than a two and a half hour drive north of where the storm made landfall.

Milton’s ‘reverse surge’ sucked water away from flood-fearing Tampa

In the hours before Hurricane Milton hit, forecasters were worried it could send as much as 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water rushing onto the heavily populated shores of Florida’s Tampa Bay.

Instead, several feet of water temporarily drained away.

Why? “Reverse storm surge” is a familiar, if sometimes unremarked-upon, function of how hurricane winds move seawater as the storms hit land — in fact, it has happened in Tampa Bay before.

▶ Read more about how reverse storm surge works.

NOAA releases longtime hurricane scientist’s ashes into Milton’s eye

As an award-winning scientist, Peter Dodge had made hundreds of flights into the eyes of hurricanes — almost 400.

On Tuesday, a crew on a reconnaissance flight into Hurricane Milton helped him make one more, dropping his ashes into the storm as a lasting tribute to the longtime National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radar specialist and researcher.

“It’s very touching,” Dodge’s sister, Shelley Dodge, said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. “We knew it was a goal of NOAA to make it happen.”

The ashes were released into the eye of the hurricane Tuesday night, less than 24 hours before Milton made landfall in Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida. An in-flight observations log, which charts information such as position and wind speed, ended with a reference to Dodge’s 387th — and final — flight.

▶ Read more about Peter Dodge and his final flight.

Animals at a zoo and an aquarium in Tampa are faring well after the storm

TAMPA, Fla. — A spokesperson for ZooTampa said Thursday all 1,000 animals at the zoo are safe and will remain in their night houses and hurricane shelter locations while habitats are cleared of debris. The Florida Aquarium in Tampa also confirmed their animals are “doing well.”

The zoo sustained some damage from the high winds and does not have power, and the spokesperson anticipates the debris cleanup and restoration, which is already underway, will take a few days.

The Florida Aquarium’s buildings in downtown Tampa and Apollo Beach also “appear to have minor weather-related damage,” the aquarium said in a Thursday press release.

As of Thursday afternoon, both the aquarium and the zoo aim to reopen Saturday, depending on when power is restored.

Coast Guard rescues a man clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico

TAMPA, Fla. — A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man who was left clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico after his boat was stranded overnight in waters roiled by Hurricane Milton.

The man's fishing vessel had been disabled Monday off Madeira Beach, Florida, and he was working to repair it Wednesday, hours before the hurricane made landfall, said Coast Guard press officer Nicole Groll. The man, who was not identified, was able to radio the Coast Guard station in nearby St. Petersburg before contact was lost about 6:45 p.m.

But on Thursday searchers located the man about 30 miles (48 kilometers) off Longboat Key, Florida, clinging to an open cooler chest, a video clip provided by the Coast Guard shows. In the video, a Coast Guard diver was lowered from a helicopter and swam to the man to pick him up.

The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical treatment, the Coast Guard said. The fate of his boat was unknown. A hospital spokesperson was not able to provide a condition without the man’s name.