Desantis Says Hurricane Milton was 'not the worst-case scenario"

Governor DeSantis said that more than 80,000 people had stayed in shelters across the state overnight.

He and state officials urged Florida residents to let rescue workers check affected areas before returning to them. State officials reported at least 42 rescues, and two arrests for looting.

Florida airports remained closed on Thursday, including Tampa, Palm Beach and St Petersburg/Clearwater, with exceptions for emergency aircraft, according to the FAA.

"We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses and you have people that are out there assessing damage right now, first responders have been working all through the night to help people who were in distress," DeSantis said.

"The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario. The storm did weaken before landfall and the storm surge, as initially reported, has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.""The Tampa airport is reporting minimal damage and should be open no later than tomorrow.""Sea ports are awaiting Coast Guard channel surveys to reopen waterside, but as of now, our initial assessments is they will likely be able to resume operations very quickly.""The storm surge was most acute in Sarasota, and I think it was a little bit more than Sarasota got for for Helene, but it wasn't like so much more. I think was eight to 10 feet.""I don't think that you're looking at similar amount of damage to Ian... definitely the surge did not reach Helene levels."