Taking on Mother Nature: Dozens risk ignoring flee or die warnings to face monster Hurricane Milton head on

Dozens of risk takers ignored flee or die warnings and faced the wrath of Hurricane Milton head on by frolicking in the storm's wicked weather.

Milton brought powerful winds, a deadly storm surge and flooding to much of Florida Wednesday night after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm.

Ahead of the cyclone's arrival, thousands of residents evacuated their homes in a bid to survive after authorities warned 'if you stay you will die'.

But dozens of stubborn locals stayed behind, opting to embrace the storm, with some seen surfing, running near the beach, posing for photographs in heavy rains and doing push-ups along a pier as waves rush over.

One man was even caught on CCTV braving Milton's severe conditions to share his support for former President Donald Trump by battling strong winds and downpour to display a campaign flag on a pier.

The Southernmost Point buoy was battered with rain and strong winds on Wednesday, but that didn't seem to stop people from enjoying the iconic Key West monument.

Cameras captured a slew of people visiting the buoy to take selfies and pose for photographs as Milton moved through Florida.

The livestream later captured a runner, seemingly playing up for the cameras, jumping to the ground and doing a set of push ups while waves crashed over him. 

Thousands of people tuned into the stream to watch Milton roll in, with one person commenting that those frolicking in the storms are evidence of 'natural selection at its best.' 

Nearby, beachgoers could been seen running along the shore, taking a dip in the ocean and even surfing as the storm raged on. 

Another livestream, source from a pier camera in Naples, captured the moment a man holding a Trump 2024 flag successfully secured the banner to the pier.

As he walks off, the flag prevails against the harsh winds; though it's unclear how long it lasted. Currently, the live camera is offline.

A Tampa man also made headlines Wednesday after he decided to go for a jog after the city had been locked down to prepare for Milton's landfall.  

Milton is 'one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida', the National Hurricane Center said.

The hurricane brought powerful winds, a deadly storm surge and flooding to much of Florida Wednesday night after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm.

The cyclone, which has since weakened to a Category 1 storm, was expected to bring catastrophic damage to the Tampa Bay region, prompting a mass evacuation order and stark warnings from authorities that 'if you stay you will die'.

Despite evacuation orders, dozens of stubborn individuals decided to hunker down and wait out the storm. 

Milton had maximum sustained winds of 120mph when it roared ashore in Siesta Key, south of the populated Tampa Bay region, the National Hurricane Center said. 

The hurricane was bringing deadly storm surge to much of Florida's Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

It weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved through the state early Thursday. Power outages were widespread and deaths have been reported from severe weather. 

The center of Milton was moving off the east coast of Florida early Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 85mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is expected to continue to move away from the peninsula and to the north of the Bahamas.

As Milton barreled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, all hurricane and tropical storm warnings were discontinued for the state's west coast.

Storm surge warnings remained in effect for parts of the Florida west coast, and along the state's east coast to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. Hurricane and tropical storm warnings were also in effect for much of the state's east-central coast.

The cyclone's tear of destruction across central Florida has left more 3 million homes and businesses without power, according to outage data. Florida's central Gulf Coast was hardest hit by the outages, including Hardee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.

At least two deaths were reported at a retirement community following a suspected tornado in Fort Pierce on the eastern coast of Florida, NBC News reported, citing St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson. His department did not immediately respond to a request for details.

A flash flood emergency was in effect for the Tampa Bay area including the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the hurricane center said, with St. Petersburg already receiving 16.6 inches of rain on Wednesday.

Although Milton weakens to Category 1, officials warn that danger remains in Florida as high winds and intense rains continued Thursday morning.