Florida death toll climbs to nine in aftermath of Hurricane Milton, search & rescue continues

Nine people are confirmed dead in the state of Florida as a result of Hurricane Milton, according to reports. 

Officials confirmed the death toll had risen on Thursday. Rescuers are continuing to conduct operations to look for bodies, according to NBC News.

"One person died after a tree fell," Volusia County Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood said, according to the outlet. 

St. Petersburg has received roughly 18 inches of rain.

Milton started out as a Category 5 storm but has since been downgraded to a Category 1.

As of now there are roughly three million people without power due to the hurricane.

"What we can say is the storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst case scenario," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference. "The storm did weaken before landfall and the storm surge as initially reported has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene. 

"Right now it looks like Sarasota County had the most significant storm surge, likely somewhere between eight to 10 feet," he added. "And remember, with Helene we had 15 to 20 feet in Taylor County."