Monster storm Hurricane Milton is causing ‘catastrophic’ flooding as it makes landfall with shocking drone footage showing giant 28-foot waves.

And as the howling winds and surging currents slam into the state, ‘multiple causalities’ are tragically being recorded.

Landfall becomes official when at least half of the hurricane’s eye reaches the coast, which happened with Milton at 1.40am Thursday, UK time, with experts warning of ‘deadly hazards’.

Residents have been warned that ‘the storm is here’ and they must ‘hunker down’ and wait it out. Even if it sounds quiet outside, don’t leave unless you are told because you may be in the eye of the storm, officials said.

The tempest brought 120mph winds smashing into the coast and 15-foot storm surges with it as it tears across the state, moving at 15mph. Around 125 homes had already been destroyed in the horrific weather by 2am UK time.

The first casualties of the destructive hurricane were also already being reported, with Sheriff Keith Pearson of the St. Lucie County giving the horror update.

WPTV reported he said there had been ‘multiple fatalities’ at the Spanish Lakes Country Club after swarm of tornados hit on Wednesday – but did not confirm how many.

The latest update from the National Hurricane Centre warned the deadly storm’s catastrophic march over Florida‘s west coast has started.

Entire palm trees have reportedly been ripped from their trunks and terrifying footage shows vehicles racing away from the incoming storm.

One video posted by the NOAA shows massive, 28-foot waves caused by the weather – longer than a London bus.

Violet, crackling lightening can be seen in further ominous footage posted from its satellites, and photos show shattered homes and ghostly, deserted streets.

Locals in the path of Milton were warned to brace for a 12ft wall of water, known as a storm surge, that will destroy everything in its path.

The first of those to be killed by the storm were announced at 2am UK time, in Saint Lucie County, when a tornado struck the Spanish Lakes Country Club where residents of the retirement community had sheltered.

Speaking in at a conference, the Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis said hauntingly: ‘Unfortunately there will be fatalities. I don’t think there’s any way around that.’

Its steady and potentially catastrophic march has brought it to the west coast of Florida, where officials earlier sounded urgent warnings for residents to evacuate or face grim odds of survival.

President Biden called it ‘one of the most destructive hurricanes in Florida in over a century’. Despite this, some stubborn residents believe they can ride it out by hunkering down in their homes and even a boat, posting videos on TikTok.

Pop star Taylor Swift has donated $5 million to help with the relief efforts to rebuild once the tempest passes.

People raced to board up homes and flee today as Biden said from the White House: ‘It’s a matter of life and death, and that’s not hyperbole’, urging those under orders to leave to ‘evacuate now, now, now.’

He earlier condemned Donald Trump of unleashing an ‘onslaught of lies’ over the his response to Hurricanes Milton and Helene, saying: ‘There’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies.’

As of midnight UK time, Hurricane Milton had began the process of making landfall, according to an update from the National Hurricane Centre.

‘The northern eye-wall of Hurricane Milton is now spreading ashore in the Tampa/St Petersburg metro area where an Extreme Wind Warning is now in effect,’ it said.

Insured losses from Milton could be from $60-$100 billion if the hurricane makes direct landfall in the densely populated area of Tampa, analysts at Morningstar DBRS said – losses which are in line with that of Katrina.

More than 770,000 Floridians are now without power and there is severe flooding in Naples.

Water levels have risen by more than a foot in the last two hours and are now 3.7 feet above normally dry ground.

Fort Myers is said to be nearing three ft of water above the ground.

The hurricane is hurling rain, tornadoes and tropical storm-force winds at the US as time begins to run out for residents to evacuate from the potentially catastrophic path the storm was carving toward Florida.

The National Service Center issued an alert at 2.30pm EST to those in Hurricane Milton’s path, saying it is now time to shelter in place.

‘It’s time to shelter-in-place from #Milton. Tropical-storm force winds, flooding rains, and tornadoes are spreading inland across FL,’ the agency said on social media.

‘Unless a life-threatening situation arises, stay indoors and follow updates.’

Emergency services have been suspended in the area where Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall within hours.

Sarasota police said: ‘At 5:39 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, our last patrol vehicle returned to Headquarters. Sustained wind speeds are too strong for emergency services to respond.

‘We will now wait out the storm, just like you, and once it passes, we will begin our rescue and recovery process.’

Winds are roaring in the Sarasota area with a 90 mph wind gust recorded at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

The National Hurricane Centre stressed that it was not certain where Milton’s centre would come ashore Wednesday night because the storm’s path might ‘wobble,’ but the entire Tampa Bay region and points south were at grave risk.

Tropical storm-force winds began lashing the coast Wednesday afternoon.

Footage of a quivering dog tied to a fence, left to suffer through the hurricane was thankfully rescued by kind passersby who took a photo of him safe and sound.

Florida’s highway patrol wrote on social media: ‘Do not do this to your pets please.’

Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, added: ‘It is cruel to leave a dog tied to a post in the middle of an oncoming storm.

‘[Florida] will hold anyone who mistreats pets accountable.’

Passengers were airlifted off a cruise ship carrying 600 Brits near Florida as the monster storm approached.

The Sun Princess, which set off from Southampton, Hampshire, two weeks ago diverted to the north coast of Cuba, but those who are vulnerable were airlifted off.

The potent series of tornadoes branching off Hurricane Milton has seen Florida break its record for the most tornado warnings in a single day.

The National Weather Service has issued 90 tornado warnings in the last 24 hours, a number that is set to continue rising as Milton barrels toward Florida’s east coast.

At least 11 of these warnings materialised into tornadoes since Wednesday morning, with forecasters cautioning that the worst could be yet to come.

Earlier, officials issued dire warnings to flee or face grim odds of survival.

‘This is it, folks,’ said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. ‘Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.’

By late afternoon, some officials said the time had passed for such efforts.

‘Unless you really have a good reason to leave at this point, we suggest you just hunker down,’ Polk County Emergency Management Director Paul Womble said in a public update.

Likewise, Pasco County officials told residents it was ‘time to ride out the storm where you are’ and to expect that emergency workers would not be able to respond to calls for several hours during the storm.

Milton, which has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida, was a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. It was expected to remain a hurricane after hitting land and plowing across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through Thursday.

Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bull’s-eye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century

But twelve workers at a Tampa zoo said they are staying put so they can look after the animals.

ZooTampa at Lowry Park is home to some 1,000 animals including elephants, giraffes and flamingos.

A director said: ‘We have the staff there that know them and can watch and monitor their behaviour and give them what they need to ensure that they’re comfortable.’

Milton threatened communities still reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and left at least 230 people dead across the South.

In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge could toss it around and compound any damage.

With the storm weaker but growing in size, the surge was projected to reach as high as 12 feet (3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay and up to 13 feet (4 meters) farther south, between Sarasota and Fort Myers.

In Pasco County, home to over half a million people in bedroom communities for Tampa and St. Petersburg, officials said shortly before noon that they were getting ready to take buses off the road.

‘This is your last chance if you need to get to a shelter,’ they said in a statement. ‘After that, you’ll need to find a way to the shelter or be prepared to ride out the storm.’

The famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans the mouth of Tampa Bay, closed around midday. Other major bridges also closed.

‘Yesterday I said the clock was ticking. Today I’m saying the alarm bell is really going off. People need to get to their safe place,’ said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service.

At a news conference in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis described deployment of a wide range of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other states; over 50,000 utility workers from as far as California; and highway patrol cars with sirens to escort gasoline tankers to replenish supplies so people could fill up their tanks before evacuating.

Tonight, he said the state was in for a ‘very fragile 24 hours’. But as of 1:30am UK time, DeSantis said the storm has caused ‘some injuries’.

He added that 19 tornadoes had sprung up in Florida over the course of Wednesday, and ‘numerous counties have reported tornado damage’.

Linda and Bob Shaffer from northeast Pennsylvania were walking around the Universal resort before holing up in their rental condo with snacks, flashlights and a deck of cards.

‘We’re just killing time until we have to stare at each other for the next 24 hours,’ Linda Shaffer said.

More than 60 per cent of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg were out of gas Wednesday afternoon, according to GasBuddy. But DeSantis said the state’s overall supply was fine, and highway patrol officers were escorting tanker trucks to replenish the supply.

In the Tampa Bay area’s Gulfport, Christian Burke and his mother stayed put in their three-story concrete home overlooking the bay. Burke said his father designed this home with a Category 5 in mind – and now they’re going to test it.

As a passing police vehicle blared encouragement to evacuate, Burke acknowledged staying isn’t a good idea but said he’s ‘not laughing at this storm one bit’ – he just believes the house his father built will withstand it.

Some 1,700 people hunkered down at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, including Trokon Nagbe and his husband, Morris Kulp. They slept on the floor because they didn’t bring their own cots.

‘It’s not the Hilton or the Marriott,’ Kulp said, ‘but it sure is appreciated.’

Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Tui are among the airlines to have cancelled flights between the UK and Florida.

A number of airports in Florida are closing to commercial operations, including Orlando International, Melbourne Orlando International and Tampa International.

The Met Office said the hurricane could bring uncertainty to UK weather next week if its remnants end up in the Atlantic, but added Milton was ‘highly unlikely to reach the UK’.

The weather service said Milton was expected to be a ‘dangerous and destructive hurricane as it makes landfall’, with sustained winds of around 130mph along the coast and a significant storm surge.

Milton is expected to weaken to a tropical storm once over the open waters of the Atlantic and transition into an extratropical storm after it passes to the south of Bermuda.

Beyond this, Milton’s remnant is likely to ‘either be absorbed into a frontal zone or dissipate in situ in the subtropical Atlantic’, the Met Office said.

Met Office tropical prediction scientist Julian Hemming said Milton’s ‘extremely strong winds’ could cause ‘severe structural damage’.

He added: ‘But also the thing we’re really concerned about is the storm surge.

‘And around the hurricane, and particularly to the south of the eye of the hurricane, we could get a storm surge of up to 15ft, which would cause extreme flooding along the coastal strip.’

Mr Hemming said there could potentially be 300 to 400 millimetres of rain over the next two days over central parts of Florida.

Tour operator Virgin Atlantic Holidays has cancelled holidays booked to the Gulf Coast areas of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg for departures up until and including October 18, and for Orlando departures up until and including October 10.

On Wednesday, British Airways cancelled six flights connecting Gatwick with Orlando and Tampa.

Tui has also said its flying programme will be ‘extremely disrupted’ due to the hurricane.

British nationals in Florida have expressed their ‘anxiety’ ahead of Milton making landfall.

Kate Collins, 52, said she is not living in a mandatory evacuation zone but has gathered supplies for the hurricane.

Ms Collins, who was raised in Plymouth and moved to Florida 30 years ago, said she is sheltering with five people and five dogs in her home in Volusia County, which is under mandatory curfew from 8pm local time on Wednesday.

‘The mood in the house is definite anxiety. Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,’ Ms Collins said.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said travellers should monitor approaching storms on the US National Hurricane Centre website and follow instructions from local authorities, including evacuation orders.

A UK Government spokesperson said: ‘We are closely monitoring the development of Hurricane Milton towards the United States.

‘We urge all British nationals in Florida, or travelling to the region, to follow the FCDO travel advice, as well as guidance from local authorities.’