Emergency teams assess safety after flooding and high winds near Milton

There is a single line of explanation here, followed by a brief list of the most important things you should know:

• Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm, bringing winds of 120 miles per hour, heavy rain and a storm surge with flooding. The storm left Florida's east coast early Thursday morning.
• Hundreds of thousands of customers in Sarasota and Manatee counties were without power and thousands of people spent the night in evacuation centers.
• Emergency teams went to communities to assess the situation. People are asked not to leave their safe space until authorities determine the conditions. President Joe Biden calls Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert to offer help.

Below are the latest updates on how Sarasota and Manatee counties are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Milton:

Longer outages are expected in Manatee County, according to a video update from FPL employee Devaney Iglesias posted to the Manatee County Facebook page Thursday morning. FPL has a “massive crew” of over 17,000 men and women from over 40 states who have come to support Hurricane Milton recovery. While FPL crews and first responders work to assess the damage, motorists are asked to stay off the roads unless driving is necessary. When driving, Iglesias urged drivers to be careful. “Please assume that any type of standing water, any debris, anything near a power line could potentially be energized,” she said. “As safety is our top priority, we ask that you avoid this at all costs.”