Individuals located beyond 100 miles from Milton's landfall encountered an alternate danger: three tornadoes occurring within a 25-minute span.
Milton, being the third hurricane to hit Florida this year, left approximately 16 inches of rain in St. Petersburg, marking a significant event with a less than 0.1% chance of occurrence as per the National Hurricane Center's data.
On the other hand, those living in St. Lucie County faced a different challenge: deadly tornadoes that were significantly stronger than regular tornadoes generated by hurricanes, as revealed by National Hurricane Center Director, Michael Brennan, during an interview with CNN on Thursday. Five casualties were reported, according to county authorities.
Footage captured the intense moment one of these ferocious and swift tornadoes ripped through the area. The footage reveals powerful gusts flicking hefty debris in various directions as the sky abruptly transforms from a pale gray to an intense fog within 50 seconds.
According to the authorities, some of the most affected areas include Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, a senior living community, Portofino Shores, Holiday Pines, Lakewood Park, South Florida Logistics Center 95, and Sunnier Palms Park and Campground.
"Their homes, along with their occupants, were lifted off the ground, moved, and destroyed. It's as if everything in the path of this tornado or hurricane no longer exists," stated St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson. This included the 10,000 square-foot, red iron Sheriff's facility.
Florida has witnessed 38 reported tornadoes, with over 125 tornado warnings issued by the National Weather Service as of early Thursday morning – the highest number of tornado warnings in a single day in the state's history, breaking the previous record of 69 set during Hurricane Irma in 2017.
"We couldn't have predicted this magnitude of activity as it's not typical," shared Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Martin with CNN's Jim Acosta on Thursday morning. "I've never witnessed anything like this before in almost 20 years."
Currently, several areas in St. Lucie, which recently made it to the US Census list of fastest-growing cities, are dealing with extensive structural damage including downed power lines, uprooted trees, overturned vehicles, and homes reduced to piles of debris. Over 64,000 customers in the county are without power as of 6:35 a.m. Thursday, with rescue and recovery operations ongoing.
“We knew it was going to cause extensive damage wherever it went”
Concerned about her primarily elderly Spanish Lakes customers, Laura Gabriel, the manager of Prestige Storage in St. Lucie, shared her intentions of being present to assist her customers in accessing their storage units, where they keep necessary supplies.
"I have a deep affection for these people here, and seeing their whole community wiped out leaves me heartbroken," she choked up. "It's frightening, truly terrifying."
Now that the storm has passed, Gabriel is focusing on checking on everyone in the surrounding areas, she shared.
"We knew it was going to destroy everything it came into contact with," she said, her voice shaky. "And all we could do was pray."
Despite the devastation caused by the tornadoes in St. Lucie County, our community rallies together. We, at Prestige Storage, are determined to help our primarily elderly customers in Spanish Lakes by ensuring they can access their necessary supplies.
In the aftermath of the storm, it's become clear that us, the residents of St. Lucie, will need to rely on each other as we work to repair and rebuild our city.
