Quebec residents in Florida count themselves lucky after Hurricane Milton's destruction

Luc Langevin woke up on Thursday morning not knowing what to expect. He fell asleep at 1:30 a.m. at the tail end of Hurricane Milton's peak.

Under the cover of darkness, he couldn't see the damage but felt his housing shaking around him.

"It's a 2017 house built with the new codes that are supposed to survive a hurricane, but you never know," said the Tampa resident.

By first light, he was able to survey his neighbourhood. Trees were uprooted, and a neighbour's sun porch was completely ripped off.

Luckily, he lives in a newer development where the homes were designed to withstand strong winds.

In nearby Lakewood Ranch, FL, Daniel Tremblay spent most of his morning on the road.

He's a realtor and was out surveying the damage in Sarasota.

He shared pictures with CTV News of boats scooped up and dropped into parking lots and debris around the waterfront.

"It was so noisy it felt like a freight train," he said.

By contrast, for about an hour, his house was in the eye of the storm.

"I went out with my son and my two dogs. It was total quietness, it was so eerie to experience that."

Both Langevin and Tremblay count themselves as lucky.

There are 10 reported fatalities related to the storm. But the men remained safe with only some damage to their property.

They both said the worst part of the experience was the anticipation leading up to the Category 3 storm making landfall.

"You don't really know exactly where the storm will hit but you can see it getting bigger and bigger," said Langevin.

"The anticipation is the worst. It's a feeling of dread," added Tremblay.

Both said their communities have come together to help in the aftermath.

Langevin was without power Thursday morning and stored his frozen food in a neighbour's freezer.

Tremblay was relaying messages to those who were under evacuation orders to give them updates on their property, as they now wait for the all-clear to come back and start the clean up.