Less than 48 hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, many residents were returning to the barrier islands off of Sarasota for the first time since evacuating earlier in the week. Late Friday morning,

Milton spread destruction across Florida overnight, whipping up tornadoes in areas not accustomed to such ferocity and cutting power for more than 3.3 million energy customers. The storm killed at least 12 people and put 11 million at risk of flooding.

After taking a direct hit from powerful and destructive Hurricane Milton, officials have re-opened access to the barrier islands. Reporting from Fort Myers, NBC’s Sam Brock tours the extensive damage for TODAY.