Multiple dead in St. Lucie County amid reports of tornadoes across Florida; Martin County enforces curfew

By Robbin Simmons and Chantal Cook

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    STUART, Florida (WSVN) — As Hurricane Milton rips through the west coast of Florida, residents on the east coast of the state are grappling with the aftermath of multiple reported tornado touchdowns.

Authorities In Port St. Lucie have reported, multiple deaths possibly die to tornadic activity.

According to the St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office, the Spanish Lakes community, just east of the Lakewood Park community in Fort Pierce, reported multiple tornadoes on Wednesday.

The tornadoes are possibly to blame for multiple deaths in the community, officials said.

Fire rescue and emergency crews have started recovery missions as they wait for the National Guard’s arrival.

Wednesday afternoon, a 10,000 square foot steel structure, housing the SLSO’s fleet of vehicles, crumpled like tin foil after a tornado passed by.

Sheriff Keith Pearson posted a video on social media warning the public about the dangerous conditions.

“Nobody was in there at the time, this thing came through and took this out within a moment. We’re gonna step back inside for some shelter,” he said.

SLSO officials have not confirmed the number of fatalities, and recovery efforts are ongoing.

In Stuart, Colonial Heights mobile home park was hit by a reported tornado, destroying multiple homes in its path.

“Our fence got destroyed. Yeah, basically our fence, our fence and our porch were the only things really damaged at our house,” said a man. “I don’t even know who lives next door ’cause we don’t really talk to neighbors. I don’t even know what to say about them. I mean, their whole house got destroyed, and just seeing it like this is awful.”

The man, who lives in the mobile home park, told 7News that his cousin is also dealing with Hurricane Milton in Fort Myers.

“My cousin, he lives in Fort Myers right now, and I was texting him earlier to see if he was OK,” he said. “Luckily he is in a really good spot right now. His house is pretty well-equipped for the storm. But thinking about that, like, literally that’s right next to our house. That could have been our house, right there. Just thinking about it is just, yeah, it’s crazy.”

Another resident, Alex Enck, came home from work to find his family’s home had been lifted off from its foundation. Luckily his family are mostly OK.

“I had just gotten off of work and going to my house, and my cousin called me and said there was a tornado that touched down, right between these two houses, and just tore it apart,” he said. “Over there on the right side where this is kind of all still standing upright. That’s where they kind of all hit the deck towards the living room”

Kaetlynn Enck told 7News that her family made it out with minimum damage during past hurricanes, but this time they weren’t so lucky.

“They’ve been through Wilma, Gene, Andrew, every other hurricane in this house, but Milton is the one that broke it,” said Kaetlynn.

Kaetlynn said her family didn’t get a warning on their phones until after the twister touched down. She went into protection mode for her three-year-old daughter.

“I just was barely able to dive on top of my daughter when the tornado ripped through the house,” said Kaetlynn. “She’s my miracle baby.”

One of the mobile homes damaged was home to four generations of one family inside, huddling in a corner, as the tornado barreled by. That family is thankfully going to be OK.

Wayne Sweitzer and his family have lived and grown in the mobile home park for 52 years.

“All of a sudden we heard that train sound,” he said. “And I jumped up, my wife jumped up, we ran, the kids ran into the living room,” he said.

Tornadoes caught from every angle from neighborhoods to highways.

Cellphone video captured a driver actually driving through what appeared to be a tornado in the early stages of development, touching down on the turnpike and I-95.

Massive twisters overturned tractor-trailers and an 18-wheeler in Martin and Indian River County.

Over in Palm Beach Gardens, a reported tornado caused damage at the Avenir Development.

Cellphone video captured an overturned SUV, multiple homes and vehicles with exterior damage, and debris all over the neighborhood.

Martin County is reportedly enforcing a curfew, that started around 9 p.m. and is expected to last until 6 a.m. on Thursday in an effort to keep people off the roads.

7News will keep you updated on possible curfews in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

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