At least 7 dead in Florida during Hurricane Milton

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA/AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed five deaths in St. Lucie County tornadoes that spun out ahead of Hurricane Milton killed 4 people. These were the first deaths in Florida attributed to the monster storm.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway also confirmed two fatalities in the city but did not directly attribute them to Milton. One was said to be a medical death while the other’s cause of death was under investigation by the medical examiner’s office.

Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, pounding cities with ferocious winds and rain, and whipping up a barrage of tornadoes . It compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.

The storm tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night in Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. The situation in the Tampa area was still a major emergency as St. Petersburg recorded over 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of flash flooding there as well as other parts of western and central Florida.

As dawn broke Thursday, officials repeated that the danger had not passed: Storm surge remained a concern in many parts of Florida and tropical storm warnings were in place for much of the east-central coast. Officials in the hard-hit counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges and flooding.

“We’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out,” Sheriff Chad Chronister of Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, said on Facebook.

Though the deadly storm surge feared for Tampa appears not to have materialized, the city saw flooding from rain. Farther south, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office reported localized flooding and storm surge, and Lorraine Anderson, the public information officer for Venice Beach, said on CNN that the area saw an estimated 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2 meters) of storm surge, far below the feared 15.

The storm knocked out power across a large section of Florida, with more than 3.2 million homes and businesses without electricity, according to poweroutage.us , which tracks utility reports.

The fabric that serves as the roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg, was ripped to shreds by the fierce winds. It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside. Multiple cranes were also toppled in the storm, the weather service said.

St. Petersburg residents also could no longer get water from their household taps because a water main break led the city to shut down service. Mayor Ken Welch had told residents to expect long power outages and the possible shutdown of the sewer system.

Just inland from Tampa, the flooding in Plant City was “absolutely staggering,” according City Manager Bill McDaniel. Emergency crews rescued 35 people overnight, said McDaniel, who estimated the city had received 13.5 inches (34 cm) of rain.

“We have flooding in places and to levels that I’ve never seen, and I’ve lived in this community for my entire life,” he said in a video posted online Thursday morning.

Before Milton even made landfall, heavy rain and tornadoes lashed parts of southern Florida Wednesday morning, with conditions deteriorating throughout the day. One twister touched down in the lightly populated Everglades and crossed Interstate 75. Another apparent tornado hit in Fort Myers, snapping tree limbs and tearing a gas station’s canopy to shreds.

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