Deadly Tornadoes Spawned by Milton Tear Across Florida

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 ...