Multiple Deaths From Tornadoes Spawned by Hurricane Milton

Max Watts walks in the parking lot to check on a trailer parked outside the hotel where he is riding out Hurricane Milton with coworkers, in Tampa, Fla., on Oct. 9, 2024. Julio Cortez/AP Photo

Multiple deaths have been reported in Florida from tornadoes, spawned by Hurricane Milton, that ripped through the state, downing buildings and trees and leaving millions without power.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office confirmed there have been “multiple fatalities” in the county after numerous tornadoes struck the area in quick succession, wreaking devastation.

Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed to Florida’s WPBF 25 News that there had been a “loss of life” in the Spanish Lakes Country Club community in Fort Pierce but did not state exactly how many fatalities had been reported.

Search and rescue teams are on their way to the area and fire department personnel were currently going through the rubble to help recover the victims, he said.

Pearson added that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office had reached out to the Sheriff’s Office, and Florida Highway Patrol and the National Guard were sending search and rescue teams to the area to help with search and recovery operations.

“This community was hit the hardest, the quickest,” Pearson said. “It’s devastating, no words can describe it,” the sheriff added.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said its 10,000-square-foot facility in Fort Pierce was also damaged during a tornado that struck shortly before Milton made landfall on Wednesday, Pearson said in a video message posted to Facebook.

The powerful storm took the iron building out “within a moment” and it collapsed on top of patrol cars parked underneath.

No one was inside the building or the patrol vehicles at the time and no injuries were reported, he said.

The sheriff stressed the dangerous nature of the storm and urged residents to stay indoors.

Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday evening as a powerful Category 3 storm, bringing with it powerful winds, deadly storm surge, and potential flooding to much of the state.

The National Hurricane Center reported that the hurricane’s eye crossed the coastline at around 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, bringing with it sustained winds of 120 mph. By 5:00 a.m. on Thursday, the storm had crossed the state, and was heading out to sea, still packing hurricane-force winds.

Vehicles Overturned, Residents Trapped Under Rubble

At least 133 tornado warnings were issued across the state by the National Weather Service Wednesday, including 49 in Miami, 35 in Melbourne, and 49 in Tampa.

Elsewhere, the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said Wednesday evening that it responded to multiple reports of tornadoes, associated injuries, and trapped people in the Wellington, Acreage, and Loxahatchee areas. The 911 calls started coming in just before 5 p.m. local time and continued for nearly one hour, officials said.

“Several tornado-related incidents were found in the Deer Path Lane area of Wellington and near Northlake and Coconut Boulevards in the Acreage and Loxahatchee areas,” officials said.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said it sent at least 40 units out to the affected areas, and that firefighters had located and rescued multiple people from damaged structures and vehicles.

Some residents were trapped under rubble or stuck in overturned vehicles tossed by the strong winds, officials said.

One person was rescued from an overturned RV while five people, including three trauma patients, were transported to the hospital, the fire rescue service said. Many more residents were treated at hospital for minor injuries, officials said.

The Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center is also aware of damage in other municipalities and has contacted the fire rescue officials in those areas, officials noted.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton has left more than three million power customers in Florida without power.

Before Milton made landfall on Wednesday, the federal government approved a disaster emergency declaration for Florida, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to free up additional resources to help disaster relief efforts associated with the hurricane.

President Joe Biden also said on X Wednesday that “thousands” of federal personnel are on the ground to help assist with disaster relief efforts while FEMA has 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water ready to deploy to those impacted by the storm.

Rescue teams, helicopters, and high-water vehicles have also been positioned “as close to the storm as possible” so they are ready to conduct life-saving missions, Biden said.

The president added that he and Vice President Kamala Harris have pledged to “be there for as long as it takes to rescue, to recover, and to rebuild.”

Caden Pearson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.