Hurricane Milton's tornado hits Florida's retirement community, claiming several lives

A Hurricane Milton tornado ripped through a Florida retirement community on Wednesday, killing several residents and leaving behind a level of destruction not seen locally in decades, officials said.

Five people died in St. Lucie County on Florida's east coast, and more than one of those deaths occurred in Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, a neighborhood designed for residents 55 and older, county spokesman Erick Gill said.

“I cannot confirm that they were all from the hardest hit neighborhood, Spanish Lakes,” Gill told NBC News. “I don’t know if it was all of them, but I know it was more than one.”

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The tornadoes occurred around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, before Milton made landfall on Florida's west coast.

Gill said there was no order to evacuate that area “because it significantly exceeded the actual impact we expected from Hurricane Milton.”

“One of the challenges with tornadoes is that you don’t really get any warning,” he added. “I have worked for St. Lucie County for 21 years. I was here when we had Frances and Jeanne 20 years ago and I haven’t seen this level of destruction since.”

Search and rescue teams were still combing tornado-ravaged neighborhoods Thursday, searching for people who may still be trapped under rubble.

“We won’t stop until we double-check and triple-check to make sure everyone in there who needs saving gets saved,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said in a video message to the community .