Hurricane Milton has killed at least 13 people as the storm left a devastating trail of destruction across Florida.
According to latest reports across the state six deaths occurred in St. Lucie County in multiple tornadoes; four storm-related deaths occurred in Volusia County; two in St. Petersburg; and one death in Citrus County, reports abc news.
Dozens of tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Milton caught many Floridians by surprise as they braced for heavy rain, strong winds and especially storm surges. Violent twisters were seen crossing highways, ripping off roofs and downing trees and power lines.
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There have been 38 preliminary eyewitness reports of tornadoes since Wednesday night, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Prediction Center. Florida sees a total of 50 tornadoes on average in a whole year. The number confirmed is expected to rise over the coming days as damaged sites are assessed.
The eyewitness reports came as the National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings in the state Wednesday.
“Certainly that will be a notable part of this storm, was how many tornadoes occurred within such a short period,” said Matthew Elliott, warning coordination meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center. At a Thursday afternoon briefing in Sarasota, Ron DeSantis said that after flying over some of the hard-hit areas, he saw that many of the homes built in recent years fared well in the storm.
“Another thing I think I can say — our buildings that were built in the last 20 or 30 years, they did very well,” he said. Speaking to reporters at the White House about the federal response to Hurricane Milton’s destruction, Biden singled out urgent funding needed by the Small Business Administration, which offers low-cost loans to businesses damaged in storms.
“I think, in terms of the SBA, it’s pretty right at the edge right now,” Biden said. “And I think the Congress should be coming back and moving on emergency needs immediately.”
But asked directly if he was ordering Congress to return early, Biden was noncommittal, saying only, “I think congress should move as rapidly as they can.”
In Punta Gorda’s historic district, a 10-foot surge from the Peace River swept blocks inland, seriously damaging homes and depositing six 30-foot-plus boats along a quarter-mile stretch of a riverside street.
The surge was the third to hit the neighborhood the last three months, following a small surge by Hurricane Debby in August and an 8-foot surge by Helene two weeks ago.
Josh Baldwin’s 38-foot boat, Alexandra, named after his young daughter, was sitting upright on the street, resting on its hull and flattened propeller, leaning against a utility pole. One side had a large gash and along with the propeller, the shaft and other running gear were ruined. The cattle rancher had moored his boat at the marina about 100 yards away and the surge had picked it up and pushed it inland, pulling it off its moorings.
He said he was at home in Sarasota, 60 miles away Thursday morning, when a friend sent him a screenshot of a TV reporter doing a live shot from in front of it.
A few hours later, he was inside removing all the gear he could to avoid it being stolen and contemplating his options — pay $100,000 to fix the boat or scrap it. He was leaning toward scraping it.
Local News
