A Hurricane Milton tornado tore through a Florida retirement community Wednesday, killing multiple residents and leaving a level of destruction not seen locally for decades, officials said.
Five people died in St. Lucie County, on Florida’s east coast, and more than one of those fatalities came at the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, a neighborhood designed for residents 55 and older, county spokesman Erick Gill said.
“I can’t confirm that all of them were from the Spanish Lakes neighborhood that was hardest hit,” Gill told NBC News. “I don’t know if it was all, but I know there was more than one.”
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The tornadoes struck at about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, ahead of Milton making landfall on Florida’s west coast.
There had been no orders to evacuate that area “because it was well ahead of the actual impact that we were expecting to receive from Hurricane Milton,” according to Gill.
“One of the challenges with tornadoes is you don’t really get warnings,” he added. “I’ve worked for St. Lucie County for 21 years. I was here when we had Frances and Jeanne 20 years ago and I have not seen this level of destruction since then.”
Search-and-rescue teams are still combing through tornado-ravaged neighborhoods on Thursday, looking for anyone who might still be trapped under rubble.
“We’re not going to stop until we double-check, triple-check to make sure that anyone in there that needs to be rescued is rescued,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said in a video message to the community.
Daniella Silva contributed.
