Death toll from hurricane increases to at least 30

Associated Press

MEXICO BEACH, Fla.

More than a week after Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle, residents were returning to their homes to try to piece together lives from rubble as the overall death toll from the storm rose to at least 30.

Authorities in Florida on Thursday confirmed 20 deaths related to the storm, which retained hurricane-force winds as far inland as southern Georgia, and also affected the Carolinas and Virginia. Six deaths were reported in Virginia, mostly from flash flooding. North Carolina had three deaths, and Georgia had one.

In storm-ravaged Mexico Beach on Florida’s Gulf Coast, residents were allowed to return home for the first time Wednesday, finding pieces of their lives scattered across the sand and a community altered.

Across the region, stunned residents continued picking up the pieces Thursday, as many remained without electricity.

Residents among the community of about 1,200 people who rode out the storm at home have been in Mexico Beach since Michael hit. But officials used the city’s Facebook page to tell others to stay away for a week after the Category 4 storm ravaged the beach town with winds and a strong storm surge.