FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released the identities of the six victims who were killed by a tornado last week inside their Fort Pierce community.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you of the tragic passing of the following St. Lucie County residents who lost their lives as a direct result of the tornado that touched down in Spanish Lakes,” Sheriff Keith Pearson said in a statement. “I, along with the men and women of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, express our heartfelt condolences to their family and friends during this extremely difficult time.”
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The victims were identified as:
· William Cutlip, 82
· Mary Vilamantez, 65
· Alejandro Alonso, 66
· Roger Ammon, 85
· Sandra McDonald, 84
· Deborah Kennedy, 66
It was last Wednesday when a tornado ravaged through the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, a retirement community in St. Lucie County’s Lakewood Park neighborhood, and killed the six victims.
Collin Kelly, a village resident, compared the destruction the tornado caused to “a war zone” and said it was “devastating.”
On Monday, Florida counties hit hard by Hurricane Milton were returning to a semblance of normalcy, with power restored to most areas, gas stations reopening and students preparing to return to school.
Still, some neighborhoods remained without power, with many severely damaged homes and businesses, their streets flooded and filled with debris.
But on the whole, things were looking up.
Florida power companies had restored electricity to about 93% of the 3.4 million homes and businesses that lost service after Milton made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane south of Tampa, smacking the region with 120 mph winds and a storm surge of up to 10 feet.
At least 11 people died less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene inflicted major damage in Florida and other Southeastern states. The death toll from Helene is more than 240.