The intensity of Hurricane Milton, which struck the US state of Florida on Thursday night and early Friday morning, has left at least 10 people dead and more than 2.5 million homes and businesses without power.

An update from the Florida governor’s office said technical teams would need several days to catalogue the damage and losses caused by the hurricane.

The hurricane delivered a swift and powerful blow to the centre of the state, tearing across the peninsula in a matter of hours before heading back out to sea, with the National Hurricane Centre saying its intensity was half of what was expected.

While the hurricane’s winds exceeded 273 kilometres per hour before making landfall in Florida, its speed on land was around 193 kilometres per hour.