As a weakened Hurricane Milton left the Florida coast yesterday, Bermudians living in the Sunshine State cleaned up the remnants of the storm, with most reporting minor damage.

The Bermuda Weather Service said that Milton was drifting east across the Atlantic and was forecast to have weakened to a tropical storm when it approaches the island today.

Victoria Shepherd, who lives in Tampa, told The Royal Gazette that she had seen “some significant rainfall” overnight when the storm passed.

The former Southampton resident said: “The rivers are starting to flood as expected.

“Fortunately, the storm surge we anticipated didn’t materialise to the degree we feared, which is some welcome news.

“Our waste water system is at maximum capacity but still holding steady, so no major concerns on that front.

“As for the water systems, they're functioning well so far, and we’re closely monitoring everything.”

She said she had “loads of clean-up” to carry out.

To lighten the mood during the storm’s passage, Ms Shepherd relied on “a couple of good-luck charms”.

She said: “To see me through this, I have my Lily Bermuda Frangipani perfume and my Alexandra Mosher gold hoop earrings.”

However, she said not everything fared well as the Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, was hit hard.

Tiffany Perry Theodore, another Tampa resident, said on Wednesday evening that she was without electricity and anticipated a power outage.

She said then that the winds were picking up speed and her area experienced significant rainfall, with up to 18 inches expected.

Ms Theodore added that she was mainly concerned about flash flooding in her neighbourhood because the ground was still saturated from the passage of Hurricane Helene.

She said: “There’s absolutely nowhere for the water to go.”

Emily Siggins, who lives in Melbourne on Florida’s east coast, said: “Things are all good over here.

“Winds started to pick up around 11.30pm and lasted throughout the night but luckily we made it through with no damage and we kept our power throughout the whole time.”

Tatyana Claytor, who lives in Cocoa on Florida’s east coast, said she and her family had only “minor damage”.

The former Southampton resident said mainly tree limbs were strewn around her neighbourhood in Milton’s wake.

She added: “The general feeling is relief that it wasn’t worse.

“Even still, there were tornadoes that did a lot of damage in my area and further south.”

She said many people in her community had experienced power outages.

Ms Claytor added: “We had a bunch of limbs down in our yard and have some friends over right now, helping to chop them up and put them out by the side of the road for pick up.”

She said that although damage in her area was minor, the experience was scary.

Ms Claytor added: “I always hate it when the majority of the storm comes through overnight because you can hear the wind blowing and crashing sounds but you don’t know what’s happened until the sun comes out.”

She hoped the storm did not severely impact Bermuda when it passes.