TALLAHASSEE — Strong storms that swept through North Florida overnight knocked out power to more than 160,000 customers at one point, about 90,000 in the Tallahassee area alone, according to the state outage tracker.

Most of them remain without power.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in 12 North Florida counties because of damage resulting from the storms. Those counties are Baker, Columbia, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor, and Wakulla counties. The move will help make it easier to take steps to clean up after the storm and get the funding needed to help with recovery.

Spectrum News meteorologists say winds reached as high as 84 mph.

Trees and lines were downed in a number of locations, including the Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College. All three schools announced that campuses are closed Friday because of the severe weather.

The iconic FSU Circus and Dick Howser Stadium also suffered damage during the storm.

While Senate offices are closed due to the severe weather, there were no reports of damage to the governor's mansion so far. 

City officials said 11 substations saw damage to transmission lines, and said many residents may be without power through the weekend during restoration work.

Crews from the Orlando Utilities Commission and Kissimmee Utility Authority headed to North Florida on Friday to help with the restoration of power.

The city of Tallahassee tweeted photos of damage in the Railroad Square Art District.

National Weather Service officials planned to survey the area Friday to determine if a tornado touched down.

This is a developing story. Stay with Spectrum News on-air, online and the Spectrum News app for updates.