WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. state of Virginia said Friday that five people have been killed by Hurricane Michael, bringing the death toll to 11.
Four people were drowned and one firefighter was killed when responding to an emergency call, according to Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
The latest report nearly doubled the fatality number from previous tallies, which included four deaths in the state of Florida, one each in the states of Georgia and North Carolina.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long told U.S. media on Friday that he expected the number will continue to rise as debris get cleaned up.
Hurricane Michael, which struck the Florida panhandle on Wednesday, was the most intense tropical cyclone to hit the United States since 1992. Material loss as a result of the hurricane is expected to reach 4.5 billion U.S. dollars. In the wake of hurricane hundreds of houses were decimated and roads were fractured.
At a U.S. military base on the path of the hurricane, a fighter jet was flipped over and hangers were shredded.
