HURRICANE Milton headed into the Atlantic Ocean today after ploughing across Florida, pounding cities with ferocious winds and rain, whipping up a barrage of tornadoes. 

At least four deaths have been caused by the storm, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa. 

The St Petersburg area of Tampa recorded more than 16 inches of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of flash flooding there as well as in other parts of western and central Florida.