4 dead from tornadoes ahead of Milton landfall

Tornadoes spun off from Hurricane Milton killed four people in St. Lucie County, Fla., on Wednesday while dozens were taken to the hospital, according to The Associated Press.

Several tornadoes hit the Spanish Lake Country Club, a senior community near Fort Pierce.

Overall, more than 120 tornado warnings were issued across the state with 20 tornadoes confirmed to have touched down in Florida as of Wednesday night.

As Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida, it was downgraded to a Category 2 storm with 110 mph winds. Officials predict it will continue to weaken as it crosses through the state.

“The storm was significant but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario. The storm did weaken before landfall and the storm surge as initially reported has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

He said rescue missions have been underway, with officials reporting 48 individuals were brought to safety as of 6:30 a.m. DeSantis said Sarasota County had the most significant storm surge with 8 to 10 feet of water, and the state would continue to measure damages as Milton progresses.

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said she would travel to Tallahassee to work alongside DeSantis as the state spearheads relief efforts.

“I promise you that FEMA is ready. FEMA and the entire federal family will be there to provide those immediate lifesaving activities and begin to stabilize the incident after the storm passes,” Criswell said at Wednesday’s White House press briefing. 

She added that she’d had conversations with local Florida officials, including Tampa Mayor Jane Castor (D), St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch (D), and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (D), as well as all the tribal nations in Florida that are in the path of the storm. 

“The president’s swift approval of the pre-landfall emergency declaration for Florida, as well as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, allows us to be able to employ the resources that we have staged to immediately begin to save lives and support the response activities,” Criswell stated. 

Response teams on the ground before Milton featured 1,200 search and rescue personnel, 500 staged ambulances, six incident management assistance teams, multiple power assessment teams and dozens of medical facility assessment personnel into the area.

“Let me be clear: The movement of these resources and these commodities are not taking away from our ongoing response and recovery efforts in North Carolina and the other states that were impacted by Hurricane Helene,” Criswell said. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris also held a briefing where they ensured Floridians they have the necessary resources to help recovery efforts.

“President Biden and I and our administration will continue to do everything we can to protect the people who have been in the path of this storm,” Harris said. “And once the storm has passed, we will be there to help folks recover and rebuild, as we continue to do for those communities in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and across the Southeast who have been devastated by Hurricane Helene.”

“Finally, as the president mentioned, to any company that — or individual that might use this crisis to exploit people who are desperate for help through illegal fraud or price gouging — whether it be at the gas pump, the airport, or the hotel counter — know that we are monitoring these behaviors and the situation on the ground very closely and anyone taking advantage of consumers will be held accountable,” she concluded.