Eerie urban legend explains why one major city in Florida wasn't directly hit by Hurricane Milton

One large city in managed to avoid being directly hit by - and locals believe they are protected by a blessing.

Those living in Tampa on the state's west coast say mounds both sacred and burial, near a pier and deriving back to the 16th Century have huge significance. Spirits are said to have blessed Tampa residents at those mounds over the centuries and so it is thought hurricanes always veer north or south and make landfall elsewhere.

And Tampa, home to around 400,000 people, has not been directly ravaged by any since 1929. Hurricane Irma killed 134 people in 2017 - but Tampa did not bear the significant brunt of Irma. None of the ten people killed by Hurricane Milton are thought to have been from Tampa.

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Explaining the blessings, a Tampa resident said in a video: "There have been ancient spirits that have blessed this land, and the hurricanes will always veer north or south of us, never hit us right on."

Rui Farias, a history teacher in nearby St Petersburg, said: "It's almost like when a myth becomes history. As time goes on, it comes true. I wasn't a believer before, but I am now." Lisa Sinatra, a resident for 45 years, said she started believing the urban legend after Tampa wasn't hit directly by Irma.

The Tocobagan tribe built mounds along the peninsula at which Tampa sits. It is understood they were either for rubbish, to bury corpses, or protect themselves from intruders, including other tribes, or natural disasters, like hurricanes. Some people believe strongly in the latter and say the tribute held rituals and blessings by the mounds, some as deep as 23 feet.

But Hurricane Milton caused , destroyed the iconic offices of a newspaper and ravaged a sports stadium.

The huge hurricane tore through Florida overnight, making and storm surges of up to 12 feet of water. In the city of St Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Times said amid high winds.

The full extent of the damage across Florida will likely be revealed in the hours ahead as daylight returns to the "sunshine state". The in Siesta Key around 9.30pm local time (2.30am BST) after days of building in the Gulf of Mexico, before hitting towns and cities like Sarasota, St Petersburg, and Tampa Bay with devastating 120mph gusts and inches of rainfall every hour. Nearly three million homes and businesses have been left without power.