Florida’s death toll rises to nine after Hurricane Milton, search and rescue operations continue

Nine people have reportedly died in the state of Florida as a result of Hurricane Milton.

Officials confirmed the death toll rose Thursday. According to NBC News, rescuers continue to conduct operations to search for bodies.

“One person died after a tree fell,” Volusia County Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood said, according to the outlet.

St. Petersburg received about 18 inches of rain.

Milton began as a Category 5 storm but has since been downgraded to Category 1.

Around three million people are currently without power due to the hurricane.

“What we can say is that the storm was significant, but fortunately this was not the worst-case scenario,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference. “The storm weakened before making landfall, and the initial reported storm surge overall was not as severe as that observed during Hurricane Helene.”

“Right now it looks like Sarasota County had the largest storm surge, probably somewhere between eight and 10 feet,” he added. “And remember, with Helene, we had 15 to 20 feet in Taylor County.”