While we wait to hear from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, we can now bring you this report from the BBC's North America editor Sarah Smith in East Orlando in the centre of the state, where she is taking a closer look at the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Smith says the storm has hit "different places in really different ways" and the damage appears to be "sporadic".

Watch below as Smith shows us around a home surrounded by floodwaters.

In the next couple of minutes, we'll be hearing again from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for his second briefing of the day on the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Stick with us and we'll bring you his top lines. You'll also be able to watch live at the top of this page.

Alex Lederman
BBC News

Scott Moulten was sitting on his couch last night when a tree branch burst through his window.

It nearly fell straight onto his lap.

Scott and his wife Sharon just moved into this Palmetto community — a short distance north of Milton’s landfall — in June. Before that, they were homeless for a year.

Newly rooted and with nowhere to go, they decided to ride out the storm in their home — a decision Scott now regrets.

“The more I think about it, the worse I feel,” he says. “I’m just glad I made it.”

It’s just gone 11:45 in Florida and the National Hurricane Center has issued a new update on Hurricane Milton.

Here’s a short summary:

• Milton's wind speeds have dropped to 80 mph (129 km/h), but is still a category one hurricane - it's expected to downgrade to a post-tropical storm later today

• A storm surge warning remains for the state’s east coast – from Sebastian Inlet to Altamaha Sound, which is further north in Georgia
• There is also a tropical storm warning – issued for wind speeds between 39-73 mph (62-117 km/h) - from Sebastian Inlet Florida northward to Edisto Beach South Carolina and the northwestern Bahamas, including Grand Bahama Island and the Abacos

Image source, EPA

The White House has confirmed that US President Joe Biden received a morning briefing on the initial impact of Hurricane Milton.

Biden spoke with his homeland security adviser, Liz Sherwood-Randall, and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, it says in a statement

They discussed the federal government’s "ongoing support to state and local officials, who are focused on life-saving response efforts today", it adds.

In a separate note, the White House also passes on that Biden and Criswell spoke this morning with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis told them "they are still assessing the damage across the state" and expressed thanks for "the extensive federal support", the statement says.

One person has been killed in Polk County, in the centre of Florida, following Hurricane Milton's passage through the state, local authorities tell Fox13.

"We have one crash related to the hurricane with a fatality," Sheriff Grady Judd tells Fox13. "We are working that at this time, that is out in the Fort Meade area or the south end of the county."

St Lucie County said earlier today that four people were killed after tornadoes hit the area. And a few minutes ago, St Petersburg police said there were two storm-related deaths in the city.

St Petersburg Chief of Police Anthony Holloway says one person died in a "medical" incident, while the other was "found in a park."

Rescue and recovery operations are still in the early stages and counties are expected to provide further updates throughout the day.

Helen Willets
BBC Weather

Now that Hurricane Milton has moved offshore, the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in Florida has diminished. However, the risk of flash flooding and damaging winds remains.

Due to high tides, rivers filling up, and the sheer volume of rain that has fallen, major urban flooding is still likely - especially as there is yet more rain to come in central and northern Florida.

High speed winds - hurricane force in places - are also still battering the east of Florida. They could bring a risk of life-threatening storm surges from east-central Florida right up to Georgia and, to a lesser degree, South Carolina.

The storm may also pass close by to Bermuda. However, the proximity of this storm to Bermuda and the US east coast over the next few days will cause large swells and dangerous rip currents.

Image source, EPA

FlightAware, a website that tracks flight delays and cancellations in and around the US, has registered over 2,000 cancelled flights so far this morning.

At least 700 flights have also been delayed, according to the tracker.

The vast majority of schedule changes come from the international airports in Orlando, Florida and Tampa, Florida.

But the delays and cancellations are also racking up in Fort Myers, Atlanta, Palm Beach and Miami.

Morgan Gisholt Minard
Reporting from Orlando

Danielle Theiss has lived on this street in east Orlando her entire life - she’s used to seeing these roads flooded.

Her house, with a river right behind it, was flooded so badly during a hurricane last year that her husband and two young children have been living in a camper van in her grandmother’s backyard across town.

"Last one was way worse," she says, as we stand looking down mangrove-lined stretch of her dead-end road.

You can see mailboxes just about poking up out of the water, as Theiss describes what’s happened to her neighbourhood.

"This house, I guarantee you is probably under water - and that one’s probably got water in it as well," she tells me.

"And right there, where you can see the green mailbox, it’s probably about six-feet deep or so right there. You gotta swim to get down there."

Most of her neighbours left before the storm, and can’t return to their houses until the waters recede.

In 2022, Hurricane Ian caused this same street to be covered in so much water that her family required an aquatic evacuation.

That's not an unusual sight in hurricane-plagued Florida. "If people need out, we’ve got boats. We’ll come get em," she laughs. "We’re used to it."

Image source, HCSO

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister says boats and amphibious vehicles were used to rescue 135 elderly residents at an assisted living facility in Tampa., external

People were also rescued from a Holiday Inn in nearby Plant City, he says.

Image source, HCSO

Earlier we reported Pinellas County had shut down all access points because of "hazardous conditions".

The county confirmed a few minutes ago that access to the mainland and barrier islands has reopened - but officials are still urging residents to stay put.

"Be patient and remain where you rode our the storm until it’s safe to travel," a spokeswoman for the county says on a video update on X.

Image source, St Pete Police

Naomi Choy Smith
Reporting from Miami

We're at a staging ground in Miami, where a constant stream of disaster response trucks is hitting the road.

In total, 1,500 linesmen are being dispatched from here to the worst-affected areas across Florida.

They will clear fallen trees and other dangerous debris, and repair and restore power lines.

The crews have their work cut out for them, as more than three million Floridians are currently without power.

But these are experienced linesmen who are used to responding to natural disasters, and their spirits are high.

Even so, their supervisor tells us, the scale of damage in Florida will make the recovery long and challenging.

Our correspondent Gordon Corera earlier described the damage in Tampa after it was hit by Hurricane Milton, including some roads being made impassable by fallen trees.

Now, police say they have rescued 15 people, including some children, from a local house after a tree crashed onto it overnight.

Tampa Bay Police Department Chief Lee Bercaw tells reporters that officers were sheltering nearby when they received an emergency call about the incident.

Police say water was coming into the building during the rescue operation, which resulted in all being taken to shelter in a nearby school.

You can watch the rescue operation in action here:

Gordon Corera
Security correspondent, reporting from Tampa

Image source, Reuters

Tampa’s streets were eerily quiet this morning. Trees blown down by the wind made some impassable.

Traffic lights were out in other places due to the power cuts which have hit parts of the city.

And most people seem to be heeding the advice to stay inside and leave the roads clear for emergency services to focus on rescue and recovery.

There was relatively little sign of major flooding though which will be a relief.

But on Davis Island you could see some of the debris still left from Hurricane Helene which had been scattered again by Milton.

Image source, Reuters

As promised, here's a digest of the key lines from Governor Ron DeSantis's update on Hurricane Milton:

Detail on the impact

• Over 80,000 people in Florida stayed in shelters overnight
• There are 3.1 million homes and businesses without power
• One hospital is being actively evacuated
• The damage is "not the worst-case scenario," DeSantis said, adding that the storm surge is far below the levels seen during Hurricane Helene a few weeks ago

Rescue efforts continue

• More than 20 urban search and rescue teams are moving into the area, conducting door-to-door searches, with over 135,000 officers involved in the effort
• This morning, 42 rescues have been made, with at least 48 people rescued
• 635,000 power restorations have been completed since Hurricane Milton hit

Further warnings

• Expect further flooding in the coming days

Moving away from the Florida governor's update - the top lines from which we'll wrap up for you shortly - Americast is recording a live episode now on Hurricane Milton.

Adam Fleming, Justin Webb, Sarah Smith and Marianna Spring are looking at the impact of the misinformation surrounding it, and how it might affect the US election.

You can watch the recording live the top of the page, and it's also available to listen to.

Kevin Guthrie notes that his disaster relief officials are hard at work seeking to stabilise water pressure in four out of five hospitals in hard-hit Pinellas County.

One hospital is being actively evacuated, Guthrie adds, though he does not provide a name.

Back to Governor Ron DeSantis, who is now taking questions now from the press.

Asked about the amount of damage, he says they game-planned certain worst-case scenarios but "that did not happen".

He mentions the storm surge, which was "most acute in Sarasota", but nowhere near the levels seen during Hurricane Helene a few weeks ago.

He says "a lot more will need to be done" to assess the extent of the damage in Florida.

"We are laser focused on search and rescue operations," says Colonel Roger Young, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Young says over 135,000 of his officers, alongside state and local partners, are providing search and rescue efforts.

So far this morning, 42 rescues have been made - on land and water - including 21 from a single apartment building.

Young's agency is also clearing trees and debris, and performing welfare checks, he says.

Now, Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management is speaking.

He warns people not to visit affected areas as this can hinder first responders.

Guthrie also mentions that the government has over 20 urban search and rescue teams ready to move into the area and conduct door-to-door searches.

“We’re going to need to get out there and go door-to-door and make sure that everyone is okay. So please, stay off the road,” he says.