Chris Kenning

EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. – Lloyd Martinez sipped a can of cold beer with two friends under a porch, enjoying the breeze sweeping in from the Gulf of Mexico as neared.

Residents of Punta Gorda, Florida, emerged after Hurricane Milton raked across Florida to find roads flooded, homes water logged and dreams dashed.

Chris Kenning, USA TODAY · 5 min read PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — When Hurricane Helene hit two weeks ago, James Sowards knew his home near Charlotte Harbor would flood.

SIESTA KEY, Fla. − Hurricane Milton howled across the Florida Peninsula on Thursday, tearing a path of destruction from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic, killing at least nine people and knocking out power to millions yet averting the "worst-case scenario" meteorologists, officials and residents had feared.

SIESTA KEY, Fla. − Hurricane Milton howled across the Florida Peninsula on Thursday, tearing a path of destruction from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic, killing at least nine people and knocking out power to millions yet averting the "worst-case scenario" meteorologists, officials and residents had feared.

USA TODAY PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – When Hurricane Helene hit two weeks ago, James Sowards knew his home near Charlotte Harbor would flood.

John Bacon Trevor Hughes Christopher Cann Chris Kenning Jorge L. Ortiz Thao Nguyen USA TODAY

Chris Kenning, USA TODAY · 13 min read Idit Ohel's son is at the age where young men are building their own lives.

Rick Jervis, Chris Kenning and Johnny Casey, USA TODAY Updated · 31 min read

As floodwaters roared through remote mountain communities of Western North Carolina, locals raced against time to save each other.