Hurricane Milton: Pray For Victims As Death Toll Hits 16, Over 2.5 million Remain Without Power

At least 16 deaths were recorded in Florida as a result of Hurricane Milton, which also caused significant destruction and severe challenges to the affected communities before barreling into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday.

Marked by its rapid intensification and extensive reach, Milton storm overwhelmed emergency services as over 2.5 million remained without power as of early Friday.

Bruce Kinsler, a 68-year-old employee from Bartow working for Polk County Roads and Drainage, was killed early Thursday morning while clearing fallen trees with his team near U.S. Highway 98, NBC News reported. A pickup truck struck a tree, propelling it into Kinsler and his co-worker. Despite prompt medical attention, Kinsler succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.

In Volusia County, authorities reported that two people suffered cardiac deaths related to the storm — one during preparations and another when first responders couldn’t reach them in time, according to The Weather Channel. Further, St. Lucie County reported six deaths from tornadoes that had swept through ahead of Milton’s landfall.

A Hillsborough County team saved a 14-year-old boy who was found floating on a fence, and a Coast Guard helicopter rescued a man from the Gulf of Mexico who had been clinging to an ice chest after his boat was caught in the storm.

As of late Thursday, power outages were affecting about 2.5 million customers across multiple counties including Highlands, Hardee, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota, according to PowerOutages.us.

The hurricane also left a trail of physical destruction, including the uprooting of homes, flooding of neighborhoods and tearing off a roof at a baseball stadium, the Tampa Bay Rays’ home ballpark, Tropicana Field, The Christian Post reports.

Milton’s impact was felt widely, from the southeast where tornadoes caused several deaths, across the peninsula to the Southwest coast where it made landfall Wednesday evening, then up through the Tampa Bay area and across the Atlantic Coast.