At least 6 dead in St. Lucie County as Milton spawns tornadoes destroying homes on Florida’s Treasure Coast

FORT PIERCE, Fla. – At least six people were killed when several tornadoes swept through Florida’s St. Lucie County on Wednesday as the outer bands of Hurricane Milton roared inland hours ahead of its eventual landfall as a Category 3 storm, the St. Lucie County Emergency Operations Center has confirmed to FOX Weather.St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said the victims were in Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in northern Fort Pierce, where a significant tornado moved through on Wednesday.HURRICANE MILTON’S DEADLY ONSLAUGHT IN FLORIDA LEAVES 3 MILLION WITHOUT POWER AFTER DESTRUCTIVE 100-MPH WINDS”The most impacted area is about a half-square-mile community made up of older modular homes that the tornado went through and just completely devastated it,” Pearson said.According to Pearson, the twister lifted up vehicles and flipped them upside down and also lifted modular homes off their foundations.”They don’t even look like homes anymore,” Pearson said. “They’re mangled there. There’s people trapped underneath them.”The sheriff said he did not have specific numbers as to the number of people trapped and needing rescue, but said hundreds of homes were either damaged or destroyed throughout the county.”So we’re actively rescuing. We have over 200 people out here doing this – specialized units and law enforcement and fire rescue,” Pearson said. “So we’re doing everything we possibly can. We have all the support that we need.”HURRICANE MILTON SPAWNS DEADLY TORNADO OUTBREAK IN SOUTH FLORIDA, ‘HUNDREDS OF HOMES’ DESTROYEDPearson wasn’t immune from tornado damage either, as part of the department’s facility was damaged. But no deputies were injured when significant tornadoes moved through.Video taken from outside the headquarters showed a collapsed roof lying on squad cars, which appeared to be damaged.Pearson said the structure was 10,000 square feet and was expected to survive impacts from a hurricane.National Weather Service offices in Tampa, Miami, Melbourne and Key West issued more than 120 Tornado Warnings during Milton, setting records.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was aware of 19 confirmed tornadoes, but that number was expected to rise as meteorologists start to survey damage after the hurricane clears the state.More than 3 million power outages were reported in Florida due to Milton, according to PowerOutage.us.