DeSantis gives update on Hurricane Milton's impact and warns that he will not tolerate looting in Florida

Ron DeSantis gave an update on hurricane Milton. The governor of Florida visited some of the hardest-hit areas Thursday and later provided specific information on the damage caused and the Sunshine State's response.

As reported by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the hurricane made landfall at Siesta Key (Sarasota) at nearly 9:00 p.m. ET. Although there had initially been speculation that it would be a Category 5 hurricane, it ultimately ended up making landfall in Florida as a Category 3, although it was later downgraded to a Category 1 by Thursday morning.

DeSantis visited Sarasota and St. Lucie, where the first deaths from the hurricane were recorded.

As reported by the governor, as of Thursday, 125 active missions were being conducted in 26 different counties, resulting in more than 340 rescues of people and 49 pets. The figures were thanks to the work of the Florida National Guard, state law enforcement and urban search and rescue teams.

It also reported that some 4 million people were without power. As of 3 p.m. Thursday, 880,000 had already regained service.

As for damage, DeSantis noted that "some of the worst case scenarios did not come to pass, certainly in terms of some of the storm surge people were predicting."

"The northern side of the storm had a lot of precipitation. They were just getting water dumped on them. So, whereas [Hurricane] Helene created a lot of storm surge in that part of the state, this one didn’t do that here, but it create inland flooding," he added.

"If they loot, they will be held accountable"

Hurricane 'Milton' has already left the state's west coast, but flooding is expected to continue along the Hillsborough, St. Johns and Little rivers.

On the possible social consequences, DeSantis sternly warned those who are thinking of perpetrating looting against businesses, mainly supermarkets.

"I warn them, don't do it. If they loot, they will be held accountable. If they are doing things that violate the law, if they are going to try to take advantage of vulnerable people, we are going to throw the law on them," he continued.

He even referenced the viral video of Florida authorities rescuing a dog that had been abandoned and tied up out in the open during the storm. "We even had some jackass chain a dog to a pole. As the storm was coming Florida Highway Patrol rescued the dog," he commented.