At least 27 tornadoes were reported in Florida on Wednesday as Hurricane Milton approached, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The NWS is still working to verify all reports, a process that could take some time due to ongoing storm conditions.
In total, over 125 tornado warnings were issued on Wednesday by NWS offices in Tampa Bay, Melbourne, and Miami, setting a new record for the most warnings in a single day in Florida. This surpasses the previous record of 69 warnings during Hurricane Irma on September 10, 2017.
In St. Lucie County, a tornado tragically claimed lives in a mobile home retirement community, according to County Sheriff Keith Pearson. While he didn’t provide an exact number of fatalities, he confirmed it was “more than one.”
Additionally, hundreds of homes in the county were “completely totaled” by tornadoes, Pearson said, and this was all before Hurricane Milton even made landfall.
Daytona Beach weather radio transmitter is off the air, National Weather Service says
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio transmitter serving seven central Florida counties is currently off the air, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida.
The Daytona Beach transmitter, operating on a frequency of 162.400 MHz, serves Lake, Brevard, Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Putnam and Flagler counties, the weather service said in a post on social media early Thursday morning.
NOAA Weather Radio is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from National Weather Service offices across the country. The broadcasts include warnings, watches, forecasts, current weather observations and other hazard information, 24 hours a day, according to the service.
Alternate transmitters that serve the Daytona Beach listening area include: 162.475 MHz in Orlando, 162.425 MHz in Palatka, 162.500 MHz in Sumterville, 162.550 MHz in Melbourne and 162.475 MHz in Gainesville.
