Hurricane Michael death toll hits 16

The death toll from Hurricane Michael rose to at least 16 on Friday amid fears it would continue to climb as search-and-rescue teams scour the debris of the Florida town that bore the brunt of the monster storm.

"Mexico Beach is devastated," Florida Governor Rick Scott said of the town where Michael made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday.

"It's like a bomb went off," Scott said as he toured the town of 1,000 people on the Gulf of Mexico. "It's like a war zone." Rescue teams were using sniffer dogs in Mexico Beach on Friday in a search for victims who may be buried under the rubble in the debris-strewn community.

Brock Long, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), warned that he expected the number of deaths to rise.

"I hope we don't see it climb dramatically but I have reasons to believe we still haven't got into some of the hardest hit areas," he said.

"What's happening is search and rescue is trying to get into the rubble to make sure that there's nobody covered up, trying to assess if there's additional casualties there," Long added.

Dozens of structures in Mexico Beach -- homes, shops and restaurants -- were lifted off their foundations by storm surge and 155-mile per hour (250 kph) winds and moved hundreds of feet inland or smashed to bits.

"Very few people live to tell what it's like to experience storm surge," Long said. "Storm surge causes the most amount of loss of life."
"I spent my life savings and retirement to stay here so I can't sell it now," Tenbrunson said. "I just have to be hopeful that (the town) will be rebuilt and fixed."