Hurricane Michael Death Toll Rises To 24 In Florida

TAMPA, FL — The death toll from Hurricane Michael has increased yet again in Florida as search and rescue teams continue to go door to door in the most heavily damaged areas of the Florida Panhandle. A total of 24 people in Florida have been confirmed dead as of Thursday night, according to emergency management officials.

Florida officials reported one additional death Thursday afternoon and seven more Thursday night. As of Tuesday, the previous total stood at 16.

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The additional death earlier Thursday involved a 78-year-old man in Liberty County, Florida, according to emergency management officials.

On Thursday night officials confirmed three additional storm-related deaths in Bay County, one in Gulf County, one in Calhoun County and two in Jackson County.

No further information was immediately available on those deaths.

Here is a county-by-county breakdown of the earlier 16 Florida deaths based on information provided to Patch by the Florida State Emergency Operations Center:

• Clay County, one storm-related death: a 94-year-old woman
• Gadsden County two storm-related deaths: a 44-year-old man and a 71-year-old man
• Bay County, 12 storm-related deaths. Florida emergency management officials were awaiting additional information from the Bay County Medical Examiner on these deaths.
• Gulf County, one Storm Related Death. Florida emergency management officials were awaiting additional information from the Gulf County Medical Examiner on this death.

"Due to difficulties resulting from damage to communication infrastructure, detailed information regarding cause of death is currently unavailable, but will be disseminated as quickly as possible upon receipt by the State Emergency Response Team," said a spokesperson for the Florida State Emergency Operations Center late Thursday afternoon.

"It is important to note that, in Florida, county medical examiners are responsible for confirming and attributing deaths that occurred in their counties," officials added. "That information is reported to FDLE and, subsequently, in the case of storm-related deaths, to the State Emergency Response Team. This has been the case for all recent Florida storms, disasters and other events unfortunately resulting in attributable deaths."

Bay County took a direct hit from the storm along the Panhandle coast, which explains why the death toll is so much higher there than in the other counties.

The Associated Press reported a total of 10 deaths in Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina that have all been attributed to the powerful storm.

Hurricane Michael came ashore on Oct. 10 near Mexico Beach, Florida as a category 4 storm packing 155 mph winds.

Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey told the Associated Press that two deaths were confirmed in his town, a man and a woman who did not evacuate and whose homes were destroyed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The aftermath of Hurricane Michael is captured by Capt. Ignatius Carroll of Miami Fire Rescue