Deaths expected to rise as Florida begins to assess Hurricane Milton destruction

State battered by category 3 storm overnight, leaving more than 3.4m homes and businesses without power

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The death toll from Hurricane Milton rose to at least 10 on Thursday as Florida continued to assess the damage from the category 3 storm that caused extensive property damage across the state and left more than 3.5m homes and businesses without power.

Five fatalities were in a senior community in St Lucie county that was struck by a tornado formed in Milton's outer bands, authorities there said. The tornado happened before the hurricane made landfall near Sarasota on Florida's western coast on Wednesday evening.