Photo: AFP / Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo
A local journalist hunkered down in Florida's Tampa Bay said he's never seen anything like Hurricane Milton, and was "scared for the aftermath".
Kirby Wilson, a reporter at Tampa Bay Times, had remained in the area and said he and his family were doing OK so far.
It was going to be tough "for the foreseeable future," he said, "but we're hanging in".
Many people in the area had not been ordered to evacuate.
Tampa Bay Times reporter Kirby Wilson Photo: Tampa Bay Times / Supplied
"A lot of it is perfectly safe from the kind of floodwater we're expecting... I know a lot of people have an image of Florida as a state that will one day be entirely submerged, but it does take a lot of water to overcome some of even the mild high points.
"I decided to stay - both to cover the story, and I didn't want to add to the confusion and hustle-bustle of people that did need to leave and may only have had the option to relocate hundreds of miles away."
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The main concerns for the region were flooding, and one of its main hospitals had a floating barrier or "aqua fence" erected around it to keep floodwater out.
His family had stockpiled non-perishable food, filled a bath tub with water in case of shortages, and put shutters on windows.
"There are ways to ride out a storm safely, [but] if you've been told to leave, leave."
Many people had refused to leave their homes, despite mandatory evacuation orders in some places.
"We're going to find out how many didn't leave by the death toll, unfortunately. I think a lot of the people... are going to be in really serious danger. First of all, because first responders are not going to come and rescue them in the middle of a hurricane. They've said so, and they shouldn't be expected to."
More than a dozen people had died in the area during the recent Hurricane Helene, Wilson said - and he believed this was a sign of what could be expected.
"I think there's going to be a lot of loss of life," he said. "Lives are gonna change, people are gonna be uprooted - the region is never gonna be the same."