Residents braced for potentially catastrophic storm surge as state pounded by severe winds and heavy rain

• Seven tornadoes hit Florida in advance of Milton
• Some locals choose to stay: ‘We have faith in the Lord’

As Hurricane Milton begins making landfall, storm chaser and meteorologist Reed Timmer, who has been tracking the storm, has shared footage from just south of Tampa. Wind gusts above hurricane-force (74mph or higher) have been reported along the coast, including a 90 mph wind gust at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, according to CNN.

More than 311,000 clients in Florida are without power as Hurricane Milton starts to make landfall near Tampa, according to Poweroutage.us. The site tracks a total of 11.5m users in the state. The majority experiencing outages are located along the state’s Gulf Coast.