'Very eerie to hear the strength': Former Ottawa resident describes Hurricane Milton hitting Florida

Former Ottawa resident Angelina Armstrong-Mann says it was clear when Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm in Florida Wednesday night—she heard it.

"It was very, very eerie to hear the strength of the wind even to understand or fathom that the wind could be that strong," she said on Thursday.

• Live updates: 4 dead, millions without power amid path of destruction left by Hurricane Milton

Armstrong-Mann lives in Lithia, southeast of Tampa. She says most of the damage on her street is downed trees.

"We're one of the only neighbourhoods within our neighbourhood that didn't lose power so we're very, very grateful for that. You can hear the generators going," Armstrong-Mann said.

Officials say at least 12 people have been confirmed dead across Florida and that number could rise.

Hurricane Milton caused damage in Lithia, Fla. (Angelina Armstrong-Mann/submitted)

Tornadoes also swept through south Florida on Wednesday causing widespread destruction, including in Jupiter Farms.

"All these tornadoes were something that were not expected for the area," said former Ottawa resident Victoria Brunetta.

Brunetta's family saw the tornado from the front of their home and it touched down just streets away. 

"The path of the tornado is very unclear but what we could see from where we drove around our neighborhood there were a couple streets and one big equestrian farm that was completely taken out," Brunetta said. "Although we did hear from those people that all their livestock is safe and all the people living there are safe so thank God for that."

Many residents still can't access their properties to see how they fared.

"The power's out apparently, the Barrier Island[s] is blocked we can't get down there because of debris and trees down.  I think water has been turned off or minimized to the island," said Glenn Schworm from St. Petersburg.

He rode out the storm in Orlando and says their neighbourhood is still recovering from Hurricane Helene.

"The winds were over 100 miles an hour and we don't know what was blown where," Schworm said. "We boarded up our home so we hope it's okay. The flooding was what we were mostly worried about. And so, the last two weeks have been exhausting, I'll tell you that much, it's been a lot."

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