Hurricane Milton brought misery to a coast still ravaged by Helene as it ploughed into Florida as a Category 3 storm, pounding cities with winds of over 100 mph (160 kph) after producing a barrage of tornadoes.

But the storm spared Tampa a direct hit.

It tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall on Wednesday night in Siesta Key near Sarasota, about 70 miles (112 kilometres) south of Tampa.

The situation in the Tampa area was still a major emergency as St Petersburg recorded over 16 inches (41 centimetres) of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of flash flooding there as well as other parts of western and central Florida.

Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St Petersburg, appeared badly damaged.

The fabric that serves as the domed stadium’s roof was ripped to shreds by the fierce winds.

Ron Rook, who said he was looking for people in need of help or debris to clear, walks through windy and rainy conditions on a deserted street in downtown Tampa Ron Rook, who said he was looking for people in need of help or debris to clear, walks through windy and rainy conditions on a deserted street in downtown Tampa (Image: (Rebecca Blackwell/AP))

It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside. Multiple cranes were also toppled in the storm, the weather service said.

St Petersburg residents also could no longer get water from their household taps because a water main break led the city to shut down service.

The storm knocked out power across a large section of Florida, with more than three million homes and businesses without power as of early Thursday, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.

Before Milton even made landfall, tornadoes were touching down across the state. The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, was hit particularly hard, with homes destroyed and some residents killed.

“We have lost some life,” St Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF News, though he would not say how many people were killed.

About 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane came ashore, many of them mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, said Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

About 90 minutes after making landfall, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm. By early Thursday, the hurricane was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 85 mph (135 kph) as it churned about 35 miles (55 kilometres) south of Orlando.

Heavy rains were also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida Peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.

It is expected to impact the heavily populated Orlando area.