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Death toll rises to 16

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Death toll rises to 16

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As authorities in Florida worked to restore power to more than two million homes and businesses in the wake of Hurricane Milton, flooding remained inundated in some communities Friday as residents rescued belongings from damaged homes.

Milton made landfall Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 miles per hour before cutting a path of destruction across the state, inundating coastal and inland communities with rain and storm surges, while its strong winds caused power outages and large sailboats Front gardens hurled.

Milton triggered a deadly tornado outbreak that killed at least six people in St. Lucie County on Florida's east coast. Nation Weather Service teams were expected to survey the damage Friday and determine exactly how many tornadoes had formed. The storm claimed at least 16 lives across the state.

The Tampa Bay area, which is vulnerable to storm surge, avoided a worst-case scenario as Milton moved south, drawing water away from the coast. Still, the storm sent a crane crashing into a downtown office building and ripped through the roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.

Roads across the state remained impassable following the heavy downpour and storm surge in Milton. According to the weather service, the storm dropped over 18 inches of rain in parts of St. Petersburg, with 8.50 inches falling in just three hours in one spot.

Developments:

∎ According to USA TODAY's outage tracker, 2.2 million utility customers remained without power as of Friday morning.

∎ Rivers across the state were above flood stage Friday, prompting weather service warnings. In Hillsborough County and the community of Alafia near Tampa, experts said “severe flooding is forecast.”

∎ In northeast Florida, coastal portions of Duval, Brevard, St. Johns and Volusia counties remain under flood warnings warning of large breaking waves of 8 to 12 feet and life-threatening rip currents, according to the weather service.

Gasoline remained scarce across West Central Florida, in part because so many Floridians evacuated their coastal areas and returned Thursday.

Gasoline appeared to be widely available along the Interstate 4 corridor in the outskirts of Orlando, about 50 miles east of Tampa, where the storm came ashore.

In Tampa and St. Petersburg, many gas stations still had no power, according to the crowdsourcing app GasBuddy. Rescue workers at Tropicana Field refilled from a secured tanker.

– Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

According to authorities, at least 16 people died across the state of Florida in connection with Hurricane Milton.

In Tampa, a woman in her early 70s was found under a collapsed branch of a large tree, city police said in a statement. Based on the preliminary investigation, “post-hurricane recovery work was underway at the property when the tree branch fell,” police said, adding that it appeared to be an accidental death.

In Orange County, which includes the city of Orlando, a man was found dead in his yard. The Orange County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that it “appears the man stepped on a downed power line while clearing debris from Hurricane Milton.”

Elsewhere, two deaths were confirmed in St. Petersburg, four in Volusia County and one each in Polk and Citrus counties, and six in St. Lucie County following tornadoes there.

National Weather Service teams are underway Friday and Saturday assessing the damage and strength of suspected tornadoes on Florida's Treasure Coast.

Forty-two warnings have been issued across East Central Florida, and NWS officials have yet to determine the exact number of tornadoes that have formed across the region.

Residents assessed their neighborhoods in the wake of Hurricane Milton on Thursday. In Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in northern St. Lucie County, homes were destroyed, trees were downed, cars overturned and at least six people died in a suspected tornado.

—Gianna Montesano and Colleen Wixon, Treasure Coast Newspapers

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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