Hurricane Milton: Orange County firefighters head to Florida to aid in relief efforts

Hurricane Milton slams Florida; 3M without power

Hurricane Milton moved through Florida early Thursday after slamming into the state, leaving millions without power, and causing "multiple fatalities," flooding and tornadoes.

LOS ANGELES - California is sending more help to Florida as part of its response to Hurricane Milton.

Thirty-three additional personnel as part of a Type 1 Team were deployed by the Orange County Fire Authority Urban Search and Rescue California Task Force 5.

The group left Thursday morning and will join the 35 other team members who were deployed on Sept. 27 to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.

The aftermath of hurricane Milton

Milton left a path of destruction after it made landfall Wednesday night in Florida. Now, people are left picking up the pieces as they start to rebuild.

Two Human Remains Detection Canines that have bene serving as part of Hurricane Helene response are also transitioning to the Hurricane Milton response.

SUGGESTED: Hurricane Milton aftermath: Millions without power as deaths, flooding reported

Officials said this is the first time in 16 years an OCFA Type 1 Team has been deployed for relief response. A local team was last deployed in 2008 to assist post-Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

"We are proud to serve those affected by these severe storms as part of a national response to the region," the OCFA said in a statement.

Surveying the damage left by Milton

The storm caused at least 6 deaths and sparked hundreds of water rescues, officials said.

Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, where it knocked out power to more than 3 million customers and whipped up 150 tornadoes.

The storm caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.

The system tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa.

Hurricane Milton triggers sea foam surge

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet.

As dawn broke Thursday, storm-surge warnings were still posted for much of the east-central Florida coast and north into Georgia.

State officials said they completed more than 40 rescues overnight and crews would be going door to door in some areas Thursday. In Tampa, police said they rescued 15 people from a single-story home damaged by a fallen tree.

The storm slammed into a region still reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and left at least 230 people dead across the South.

Orange County Severe Weather Hurricanes