DeSantis visits St. Lucie Co. after deadly tornado outbreak

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Less than 24 hours after a tornado outbreak killed at least six people in St. Lucie County, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the hurricane-ravaged county on Thursday.

DeSantis held a news conference at the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office where he and Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed a fifth death from the storm in the hard-hit Spanish Lakes Country Club, a senior community near Fort Pierce.

A few hours later, fire rescue officials confirmed a sixth death at the same community.

Pearson said rescue teams were still at the Spanish Lakes community sifting through the debris and found the fifth victim right before the midday news conference.

“What I’ve seen so far is that St. Lucie (County) had the most tornado damage of anyone I’ve seen,” DeSantis said.

WATCH BELOW: DeSantis holds news conference in St. Lucie County

At least 5 dead in St. Lucie Co., according to DeSantis and sheriff

The governor did not have any reports of any other fatalities in the state from the hurricane besides St. Lucie County. DeSantis said he spoke to President Joe Biden on Thursday morning.

“(Biden) said he wants to be helpful (and) if we have a request, he said send them his way and he wants to help us get the job done,” DeSantis said. “I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state and local governments and work together to put the people first.”

When Milton made landfall Wednesday night, it came ashore with winds of 120 mph, which caused power outages in multiple counties.

“We’ve had massive power outages, which was expected,” DeSantis said when assessing damage across the state. “I’d say this is probably similar to Hurricanes Irma and Ian in terms of the number of outages.”

He said the storm caused about 4 million customers to lose power but 700,000 of those customers already how their electricity restored as of Thursday afternoon.

DeSantis said linemen from other states, some as far away as California, have come to Florida to help restore power.

He was joined by Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Maj. Gen. John Haas, the senior military adviser to the governor.

“We got to keep bringing in fuel into this state,” DeSantis said. “I know there a lot on the dockside still that can be brought out. We’ve got 1.5 million gallons of diesel on hand that we can use for the state and to help replenish, and I think we’ve got about 1.1 million gallons of regular gasoline.”

TRACKING THE TROPICS: Hurricane Center | Hurricane Guide

Earlier on Thursday morning, state officials said emergency crews are “laser-focused” on search and rescue operations now that Hurricane Milton has moved off Florida’s east coast.

Speaking in Tallahassee, DeSantis said Milton delivered “much destruction and damage” across the state, including punishing tornadoes on the east coast.

“We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses,” DeSantis said. “You have people that are out there assessing damage right now.”

WATCH: Gov. DeSantis gives update on Hurricane Milton aftermath

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives update on aftermath of Hurricane Milton

Milton made landfall as a dangerous Category 3 storm near Siesta Key in Sarasota County at approximately 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

DeSantis said first responders worked throughout the night and successfully completed at least 48 rescues — including both families and pets — as of 6:30 a.m.

The Florida National Guard currently has 31 aircraft and hundreds of rescuers conducting at least 125 active missions in 26 counties, DeSantis said.

“There will be a lot more that will need to be done to assess the extent of the damage,” DeSantis said. “We have a lot of resources in play here in Florida to be able to mitigate and get people back on their feet and get the state moving again.”

Chris O’Meara/AP

Erick Gill, a spokesperson for the county, said first responders are conducting “response and recovery efforts” after the twisters touched down starting at approximately 4:30 p.m. as Milton closed in on Florida.

Pearson had previously confirmed Wednesday that “multiple” people were killed at the Spanish Lakes Country Club.

John Marfisi

Emergency officials are urging residents to stay off the roads and stay inside until it’s safe to leave.

“Unnecessary traffic or bystanders will hinder response and recovery efforts,” Gill said in a news release to WPTV.