Storm Now Blamed For 11 Deaths, 5 In Virginia

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MEXICO BEACH, FL - OCTOBER 11: Members of the South Florida Search and Rescue team search for survivors in the destruction left after Hurricane Michael passed through the area on October 11, 2018 in Mexico Beach, Florida. The hurricane hit the panhandle area with category 4 winds causing major damage. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Hurricane Michael may have weakened before making it’s way up the East Coast, but it still proved to be very dangerous. This morning the Virginia Department of Emergency Management is reporting that there are 5 deaths in Virginia alone. The Washington Post reports:

Four of the deaths were related to people being swept away in floodwaters along roadways, and one was a firefighter who was killed in a crash along a highway, according to officials with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM).

CBS reports on one of the deaths:

Virginia State Police say they were called in Thursday to help find James E. King Jr., 45, who was swept away from his vehicle by floodwaters at around 3:30 p.m.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., special agents with the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and local volunteer firefighters found King’s body downstream.

The storm is blamed for 6 other deaths in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, but that number is expected to rise as search and rescue crews comb areas hit by the storm. Time magazine writes:

The storm, which has moved off the coast and into the Atlantic Ocean, killed four people in Gadsden County, Florida. An 11-year-old girl died in southwest Georgia due to strong winds from the hurricane, while a 38-year-old man in North Carolina died after a tree fell on his moving car.