NEW YORK, October 10. /TASS/. Four people were killed by tornadoes that formed in Florida on Wednesday, shortly before Hurricane Milton hit the state, NBC reports.

All victims were in St. Lucie County, where two tornadoes formed. "Significant damage was caused to many homes and buildings in St. Lucie County, including the city of Port St. Lucie and surrounding areas," the TV channel quotes the county authorities as saying.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm at 8:30 p.m. (03:35 Moscow time) yesterday night near Siesta Key. On Thursday morning, the hurricane weakened to a category one storm. More than 3 million residents of the state remain without electricity, according to the PowerOutage monitoring resource.

On October 7, President Joe Biden signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency in Florida due to a hurricane approaching the state and ordered federal aid to be provided to local authorities. In late September, Hurricane Helene hit the southern US, killing more than 200 people and causing damage to the region estimated at about $35 billion.