Washington - Five more deaths in the US were blamed Friday on
Hurricane Michael, bringing the new death toll to at least 11, as
rescue teams continue combing the Florida Panhandle for victims and
people possibly trapped in the rubble.
Michael, a Category-4 hurricane when it hit on Wednesday, flattened
several coastal buildings and left infrastructure crippled by downed
trees and power lines.
The five most recent deaths attributed to the storm occurred in
Virginia, the state's emergency management authority said, according
to news reports. The dead included four who drowned. One death was a
firefighter who was responding to an emergency call, Virginia State
Police said.
Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA), told CNN that he expects the number of dead to rise as
rescue workers dig their way through debris.
Much of the coastline of the Florida Panhandle was left in ruins.
Aerial images of the two coastal towns showed plots of empty land
where houses had stood before the storm. Losses could reach 4.5
billion dollars, according to an insurance trade journal.
More than 1.4 million utility customers from Florida to Virginia were
without power as of Friday morning, according to a website that
tracks outages.
Thousands of National Guard troops and emergency workers are in the
region delivering aid and services to the survivors.
The weakened storm, no longer a hurricane, has moved over the
Atlantic Ocean, its remnants still lashing north-eastern US states in
New England with strong winds and heavy rain.