Deadly Tornadoes Spawned by Milton Tear Across Florida

by · NY Times

Deadly Tornadoes Spawned by Milton Tear Across Florida

In St. Lucie County on the state’s Atlantic Coast, far from where the hurricane made landfall, one sheriff confirmed some loss of life in his county without providing further details after a tornado struck.

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Robert Haight salvaging what he could after what was believed to be a tornado tore the roof off his home in Fort Myers, Fla., on Wednesday.
Credit...Joe Raedle/Getty Images

By Alexandra E. Petri

Search-and-rescue efforts were underway in Florida on Thursday morning after Hurricane Milton spawned powerful tornadoes across the state that resulted in some loss of life, according to one county sheriff. The tornadoes were reported to have damaged more than a hundred structures around the state, and several people were injured, the authorities said.

At least 116 tornado warnings had been issued across Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said at a news conference just before 8 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. Mr. DeSantis said there were 19 confirmed tornadoes in the state. A tornado warning is issued after a tornado is seen by a spotter or shows up on a radar. It is an urgent alert to take shelter. The National Weather Service later looks into each one for confirmation.

“Numerous counties have reported tornado damage,” Mr. DeSantis said.

Kevin Guthrie, the executive director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said that early reports indicated about 125 homes were destroyed, mostly mobile homes in senior communities.

Some of the earliest reports of severe damage from tornadoes came from St. Lucie County on Florida’s Atlantic coast, about 140 miles east from where Milton made landfall. Crews were sifting through the rubble at the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in Lakewood Park, Fla., on Wednesday evening. Sheriff Keith Pearson of St. Lucie County told WPBF, an ABC affiliate station, that “multiple tornadoes” touched down in the Spanish Lakes community, and “we have lost some life.”

“Search-and-rescue teams are on their way,” he said. “We’re going through the rubble. We’re trying to recover anybody that we can, provide whatever help that we can.”

Sheriff Pearson declined to comment on the number of fatalities to WPBF on Wednesday evening, saying the crews were focused on “recovering.”

“This is the beginning of the storm,” Sheriff Pearson said, noting the long road to recovery ahead. “Take whatever precautions.”

In a video posted on Facebook, Sheriff Pearson warned his residents to take the storm threat seriously by showing a 10,000-foot iron structure that once covered patrol cars that he said had been crumpled when a tornado passed through. No one was injured. The sheriff’s office could not be reached.

In Central Florida, Sheriff Paul Blackman of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said on social media that a tornado had apparently struck the Tropical Harbor Mobile Home Park in Lake Placid around 2 p.m., causing structure damage. One person suffered minor injuries.

Two tornadoes touched down in Okeechobee County, the county’s Emergency Management Department said, adding that two people had been injured and over 30 homes damaged.

Hurricanes can spawn tornadoes because their outer rain bands often contain strong thunderstorms of their own. Tornadoes that accompany tropical systems are usually weak and short-lived, but those accompanying Milton were slightly more intense and out of the ordinary, meteorologists said.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Hank Sanders, Yan Zhuang, John Keefe Henry Fountain and Judson Jones contributed reporting.

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