Power poles were toppled over and tornadoes touched down north of Miami and near Fort Lauderdale.
Both coasts are expected to face several feet of storm surge, with the the worst in Sarasota.
Farther inland around noon Pacific time it was still rather calm in Orlando.
"There's a little bit of wind there's there's sprinkles right now, not necessarily rain," said Max Arias, a Clovis native.
Arias and his fiancé, Rachel Perez, are there on a business trip.
About an hour after our interview, this video Max sent us shows how much the wind and rain picked up.
LIVE UPDATES: Category 3 storm within hour away from landfall in Florida
"A lot of our family members were telling us, like, 'What are you guys doing? Why didn't you cancel?' Well, unfortunately, it's for work. So, we had to come either way," said Arias.
He brought Rachel along hoping they'd be able to visit Walt Disney World, which is now closed ahead of Milton.
"Happiest place on earth. We just didn't think it was going to be the wettest and windiest place on earth," said Arias.
As Milton moves in, so have thousands of volunteers and utility workers.
The American Red Cross of the Central Valley alone sending about 30 volunteers.
PG&E has deployed 400 crew members to help restore power in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Millions have been ordered to evacuate and many have listened, getting away from Florida's west coast.
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