Hurricane Michael Deaths Raised To 25 In Florida

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PANAMA CITY (CBSMiami) - A falling tree killed a firefighter while he was helping his family clear debris from Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle, bringing the overall storm-related death toll to 35.

Fire coordinator Brad Price, 49, of Wewahitchka was on his tractor when he was killed Thursday, according to the Gulf County Sheriff's Office. With Price's death, 25 of the fatalities have been confirmed in Florida. Many of the deaths in the heavily timbered Panhandle were from tree falls, while other bodies have been pulled from homes decimated by hurricane-force winds and storm surge.

The storm also killed 10 people in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, where most were caught in flash flooding.

Hurricane Michael, which slammed into Florida's Panhandle with 155 mph winds on October 10th, 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.