FORT PIERCE, Fla. — It has now been two months since more than 20 tornadoes touched down in a single day, ravaging our communities in the hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall.
WPTV has worked to gather the stories and video of those impacted to take you back inside the worst hit areas, in ways you haven't yet seen.
In Spanish Lakes Country Club of Fort Pierce, the area hardest hit by an EF-3 tornado, six people died after two tornadoes hit the community.
The second of those was an EF-3 tornado with 155 mph winds that lifted manufactured homes and flipped them off foundations.
Even some concrete homes crumbled.
You can see the six Spanish Lakes victims here, including a seventh person authorities said died as a result of Hurricane Milton.
Robert Mackenzie died after falling while putting up shutters before the storm.
One of the victims killed was 82-year-old Bill Cutlip, who was living in Spanish Lakes Country Club. He was inside his home when a tornado picked it up and imploded it.
His cousin, Sherry Ruiz, said they tried to get Cutlip to leave his mobile home and stay in Vero Beach ahead of the hurricane. She said after the tornadoes passed, she searched frantically for him for hours and into the next morning.
"I saw a sheriff's department, I stopped and I asked them about Bill Cutlip, 52 Montoya, have you heard anything? And they said, uh, yes we heard something, we’re going to call you, Miss Ruiz, and they wanted my phone number, and about two hours later I got the call that they did find him and he was deceased. And that was the next day," said Ruiz. "I was shattered."
The night of the tornadoes, getting to the Spanish Lakes Country Club was a challenge in and of itself.
First responders worked to get around downed trees, power lines and other roadblocks caused by debris.
WPTV anchor Meghan McRoberts was also in the neighborhood that night and recalled trying to see the extent of the damage with headlights and flashlights.
She also watched deputies going door-to-door, knocking on walls to rule out whether anyone was still inside.
Since then, WPTV has learned deputies found people trapped who they helped get to the hospital, and others who wouldn't survive.
One of those who rushed to help was St. Lucie County Deputy Matthew Gerdes. He made it to the home of Alejandro Alonso and his girlfriend, Mary Grace Viramontez.
Their home was a mangled mess, but Gerdes came across someone trapped and desperately needing help.
While Alonso had sadly passed away already, Viramontez was still alive, trapped underneath a metal beam from her trailer, lying across her back.
Rescue crews tried to get heavy equipment inside to save her.
Gerdes, incredibly emotional, recalled being there with Viramontez in her final moments.
"This was a situation, the first time in my entire career that I became helpless, that I was unable to help her, you know," said Gerdes. "But knowing that I was there for her till the end and other deputies that we were there with her, and she didn't die alone."
County leaders in St. Lucie said nearly 2,000 homes were damaged, and 180 were destroyed, creating millions of dollars worth of damage.
Further north in Indian River, law enforcement dash cameras showed the dangerous conditions, right in the thick of it.
Video showed an officer driving through a tornado on that day. Other cameras captured the vehicles responding to emergencies.
From flooded out cars, to panic attacks and even fires, dispatchers were overwhelmed by the rush of calls coming in.
"I'm just caught out here in this bad weather, and I'm having a panic attack in this weather," said one caller.
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"I just got home from work, and my place— there’s water up to my ankles, and I have a 4-year-old," said another caller. "We’ll die if we stay here, it’s getting worse and worse."
The Indian River County Administrator said the damage was extensive throughout the county.
Hurricane Milton and the ensuing tornadoes caused $59 million in damage and destroyed 51 homes, while 90 others sustained significant damage.
Also, 457 additional homes suffered lesser damage.
Throughout our five-county area, tornado warnings were firing off on Oct. 9, seemingly constantly, beginning in the morning hours and lasting into the evening.
In all, more than 120 tornado warnings were issued across South and Central Florida.
One of the first tornadoes was in Okeechobee County.
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It hit the Milking R Dairy and continued to Charley Dahlonega's home.
Dalhonega recalled the G-force of the EF-2 tornado throwing her and her husband, John, across their home as the twister picked up the mobile home and ripped it apart.
Dahlonega described the moments she was trapped under rubble, not knowing if her husband was OK. She frantically tried to get the attention of rescuers.
"When I came to, I was buried. Most of me was underground. I had— my arm was free — and I was trying to push this dryer off of me. The sheriff was there. I heard voices, you know, they were talking, and I started finding whatever I could," said Dahlonega. "I think I remembered finding a phone, throwing it straight up into the air, just trying to get attention and yelling. And they told me to quit trying to push the dryer off because we were totally wrapped in fencing and electrical wire that was hot wire, that was scary."
Dahlonega's injuries were so bad, she said there were initial reports around town that she didn't make it.
First responders administered CPR on her and took Dahlonega and her husband to the hospital.
Just a couple hours later, and about 15 minutes before the EF-3 tornado hit the Spanish Lakes community, another EF-3 tornado spawned down in Palm Beach County.
WATCH: Wellington family of 15 survives home collapse during tornado
The tornado carved a 20-mile path through multiple communities, first hitting Deer Path Lane in Wellington.
Ramiro Pedro Delgado took video of the twister just seconds before it hit his home, trapping himself and 14 of his relatives inside.
Dash camera from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office showed the moment deputies arrived to help, as neighbors were already helping the family to safety.
[Translated from Spanish to English]
"The tornado that came through was very strong. The reason why I say it was so strong is because it left us with nothing," said Delgado. "What I was thinking in that moment was to look for my family and see if everyone was okay, and they were but they were all seriously injured."
Delgado's youngest son, just seven years old, broke his leg. His wife was also treated at the hospital. All thankfully are now OK, but have no home, and nothing left.
Like so many others, they now hope and pray for help. Many of the tornado patients were taken to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce.
The hospital had all the trauma surgeons in house— orthopedic, neurosurgeons— all ready for whatever injuries might be coming in. They treated at least 17 patients, who came into the hospital with everything from head injuries to spinal fractures and broken bones. With many of the patients being elderly, that only added to the urgency.
"I hope I don't see it again. It's the nightmare that I see when I go to sleep," said HCA Florida Lawnwood's Trauma Dr. David Rubay.
Rubay said three of the patients that came in were in critical condition and one of those passed away. Rubay said that was hard on his team, but was thankful to have saved the other two.
He said he and his team have learned a lot about preparing for hurricanes and the injuries that come along with them.
Yet on a day with so much damage, devastation and loss, comes a story of hope to remember the relief and human spirit put on display in the days that followed.
Alejandro Alonso and Mary Grace Vilamontez, the couple who died in Spanish Lakes, had a dog.
Customs and Border Protection Agents were looking through the rubble in Spanish Lakes Country Club and found a Rottweiler trapped.
At first, Air and Marine Operations Agent Vaughn Yarnal wasn't sure if the dog was alive, but with a closer look, he saw it was still breathing.
They freed him from the rubble and he was not badly hurt.
It was a sign to keep searching on a day full of despair— a glimmer of hope that was just what rescuers needed.
"He didn't make a sound, we were walking above him and we just noticed him by sticking our head underneath and moving some debris," said Yarnal. "We were like oh my goodness, we've got to save something here, so we're like alright let's get this dog out. You know, it didn't feel like we were making much of a difference at all, just looking through the debris, not finding much, but at least something, at least, you know, we were able to pull a dog out that's alive and give him to his family, and if the grandsons, you know that makes him, if that's something for him, then that makes us feel really good."
These are just a few of the so many stories still to tell.
That's why we are dedicating an entire hour to share the heartbreak and heroism across our five-county area.
We hope you'll join us on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 5 p.m. to watch our special coverage documentary The Day the Sky Turned.
