Hurricane Michael death toll hits 16
MEXICO BEACH, Oct 13 ( AFP) - The death toll from Hurricane Michael rose to at least 16 on Friday amid fears it would continue to climb as search-and-rescue teams scour the debris of the Florida town that bore the brunt of the monster storm.
“It's like a bomb went off,” Scott said as he toured the town of 1,000 people on the Gulf of Mexico. “It's like a war zone.”
Rescue teams were using sniffer dogs in Mexico Beach on Friday in a search for victims who may be buried under the rubble in the debris- strewn community.
Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), warned that he expected the number of deaths to rise.
“I hope we don't see it climb dramatically but I have reasons to believe we still haven't got into some of the hardest hit areas,” he said.
Dozens of structures in Mexico Beach -- homes, shops and restaurants -- were lifted off their foundations by storm surge and 155- mile per hour (250 kph) winds and moved hundreds of feet inland or smashed to bits.
President Donald Trump said he planned to visit Florida and Georgia.
“People have no idea how hard Hurricane Michael has hit the great state of Georgia,” Trump tweeted. “I will be visiting both Florida and Georgia early next week. We are working very hard on every area and every state that was hit -- and we are with you!” Michael was the most intense hurricane to strike the Florida Panhandle since record keeping began in 1851.
Many of the damaged Florida buildings were not built to withstand a storm above the strength of a Category 3 hurricane on the five- level SaffirSimpson scale.
About 5,000 US servicemen were deployed to help with relief and recovery efforts, the Pentagon said, using 100 helicopters and 1,800 high- water vehicles.
Tyndall Air Force Base, home to the F-22 stealth fighter, suffered extensive damage, according to aerial photos of the coastal facility.
The base was evacuated ahead of the hurricane and the costly fighter planes were flown to other installations out of the path of the storm.