In pictures: Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida with house-toppling winds

In this NASA handout, Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm at the time of this photograph, is pictured in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula on October 8, 2024 seen from the International Space Station as it orbited 257 miles above. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)

An evacuation sign during Hurricane Milton in St. Petersburg, Florida, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Hurricane Milton churned toward Florida's west coast with winds powerful enough to demolish houses, threatening to unleash once-in-a-century flooding across some of the state's fastest-growing counties. Photographer: Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A sign indicates that an evacuation order is in effect for the beach area before Hurricane Milton's arrival on October 08, 2024, in Fort Myers, Florida. People are preparing for the storm, which could be a Cat 3 when it makes landfall on Wednesday evening. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

People look out at surge waters flooding the street from their building after Hurricane Milton came ashore in the Sarasota area on October 09, 2024, in Fort Myers, Florida. People are waiting to assess the damage after the Cat 3 hurricane came ashore. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A woman walks through downtown as Hurricane Milton makes landfall on October 09, 2024, in Tampa, Florida. Milton, coming on the heels of the destructive Helene, hit as a category 3 storm with winds of over 100 mph, though avoiding the projected direct hit on Tampa. Instead, the storm, which earlier had reportedly spawned tornadoes, landed about 70 miles south of Tampa near Siesta Key, a strip of white-sand beaches that's home to 5,500 people, according to published reports. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Hurricane Milton approaches as a Category 3 storm in Sarasota, Florida, USA, 09 October 2024. According to the National Hurricane Cente's Live Hurricane Tracker, Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall on the west coast of Florida 09 October evening. After rapidly intensifying into a Category 5 storm on 07 October, Milton is weakening as it reaches the shore but will still bring significant weather impacts across the state. EPA-EFE/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

A boat rests on a road after Hurricane Milton came ashore on October 10, 2024, in Port Charlotte, Florida. The storm came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane in the Siesta Key area of Florida, causing damage and flooding. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A damaged vehicle stuck in sand swept up by Hurricane Helene ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall in Treasure Island, Florida, US, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. Milton exploded into the Atlantic's strongest hurricane this year, bearing down as a catastrophic Category 5 storm on a Florida region still struggling to recover from Helene's devastation. Photographer: Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images

People begin arriving at the Dort Financial Center for a rally with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on October 04, 2024 in Flint, Michigan. Harris has two campaign events scheduled in Michigan today as she goes head-to-head with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump who had and event in the swing state yesterday, (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A law enforcement sharpshooter positions themselves on a roof prior to a rally by Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, at the Butler Farm Show Inc. on October 05, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump is holding a rally in Butler at the site of his first assassination attempt. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Elon Musk leaps on stage with Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally from behind bullet resistant glass at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds on October 05, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. This is the first time that Trump has returned to Butler since he was injured during an attempted assassination on July 13. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Supporters of Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump wait for the start of a campaign rally at Riverfront Sports on October 09, 2024 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Trump is holding campaign events in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, a key swing state that holds 19 electoral votes the fifth highest in the nation and number one among the battleground states. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump dances off stage at the conclusion of a campaign rally at the Santander Arena on October 09, 2024 in Reading, Pennsylvania. With 26 days until the presidential election, Trump is campaigning across the battleground state of Pennsylvania, including a stop earlier in the day in President Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A wild fox runs by the honor guard lined up for the visit of the Mauritanian president to Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, 08 October 2024. EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER

People hold a demonstration in support of Israel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 07 October 2024. Argentina's Jewish community rallied to demand the release of 101 missing hostages from the Gaza Strip, marking a year after their captivity by Hamas. EPA-EFE/JUAN IGNACIO RONCORONI

Smoke rises following Israeli military strike on Khiam town, near Lebanese Israeli border, Lebanon, 08 October 2024. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than 2,000 people have been killed and over 9,800 others have been injured in Lebanon since Israel expanded its military operations to Lebanon in September 2024. EPA-EFE/STR

People hug as Turkish citizens living in Lebanon prepare to leave via the Beirut port, in Beirut, Lebanon, 09 October 2024. According to the Turkish foreign ministry, two Turkish navy ships headed to Beirut to evacuate on 09 October around 2000 Turkish nationals living in Lebanon. According to the Turkish embassy in Lebanon, about 14,000 Turkish nationals are registered at the consulate in Lebanon. Several countries are evacuating their citizens from Lebanon as the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict escalates. EPA-EFE/STR

Palestinians inspect a bullet-riddled car in Nablus, West Bank, 09 October 2024. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, four Palestinian individuals were killed when undercover Israeli troops opened fire. EPA-EFE/ALAA BADARNEH

A billboard features a portrait of Lebanon's Hezbollah late leader Hassan Nasrallah as a Palestinian flag flutters in Sana'a, Yemen, 09 October 2024. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut on 27 September. EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) awards Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (L), with the 'Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called', during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 09 October 2024. EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY

Rabbi Moshe Haim Nigri participates in the Kaparot Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 08 October 2024. Kaparot is a ritual of liberation from sins that takes place at the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the days before the celebration of Yon Kippur, or Day of Atonement, the most important religious holiday for the Hebrew people. It consists of passing a live chicken over one's head three times while praying, and then sacrificing the bird. The shochet is a person specially trained and authorized to slaughter animals and birds. EPA-EFE/Andre Coelho

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action during his Men's Singles round of 16 match against Roman Safiullin of Russia at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 09 October 2024. EPA-EFE/ALEX PLAVEVSKI DM