UPDATE: Hurricane Milton death toll rises to 17

The death toll from Hurricane Milton in Florida rose to 17 on Friday as rescuers continued their efforts to reach residents in the Tampa Bay area who remained trapped by floodwaters triggered by record rainfalls.

New Milton-related fatalities were reported late Thursday, bringing the statewide death toll from the storm to 17, according to tallies kept by the Tampa Bay Times and Florida Today.

One of them was in Tampa, Florida, where police confirmed a woman in her early 70s died after apparently being crushed by a falling tree branch during “post-hurricane restoration efforts” on her property.

Two others were in Pinellas County, where St Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway on Friday told reporters one person died of a storm-related medical incident while another was found dead in a park.

In the wake of the storm, the biggest issues were the millions of homes and businesses still without power and the extensive flooding in the Tampa area, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in an update delivered from the street outside the Tampa Bay Times building, where Milton’s winds had toppled a construction crane into the structure.

Tampa Bay “did not get the worst-case scenario, but we did get hit and we’re going to have to work to bounce back,” he said, noting that while the area escaped a much-feared catastrophic storm surge, it was still inundated by extremely heavy rainfall.

In an extraordinary deluge, St Petersburg received more than 18 inches of rainfall, while Tampa experienced up to 13 inches. That volume of rain is approximately five times more than the average for the entire month of October in Tampa, according to weather analysts.

The extreme rainfall led to widespread inland flooding, further exacerbated by a modest storm surge effects in certain areas. The ground was already saturated by the rainfall brought earlier by Hurricane Helene.

Even on Friday, well after Milton exited the state, major flooding continued to increase in several areas throughout Hillsborough County, creating dangerous conditions for residents in those areas, county officials said.

A major trouble spot was along the Alafia River, which was expected to rise even further on Friday. Rescuers in the county have “working non-stop” to pick up residents in the area stranded by flooding, including one incident on Thursday in which a family was rescued from severe flooding in Dover, Florida. (UPI)