(This story has been updated with additional information.)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Five people died following suspected tornadoes Wednesday that ripped through Spanish Lakes County Club Village and other areas, near Lakewood Park in northern Fort Pierce, officials announced Thursday morning.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed the fatalities Thursday. The fifth victim was discovered Thursday morning, Pearson said. No other details were provided.

Hard-hit by winds, flooding

As St. Lucie County residents woke up Thursday to power outages, building damage, downed lines, debris and flooding, officials were assessing everything when it's safe to do so.

One of the worst-impacted areas in the county so far was Spanish Lakes Country Club Village.

The suspected tornado Wednesday afternoon damaged dozens of homes in Indian River Estates and Lakewood Park, officials said. Pearson confirmed the "multiple fatalities, but offered no further details.

First responders were conducting search-and-rescue operations Wednesday ahead of peak winds.

Church heavily damaged

Nancy Larson and her grandson, CJ Baker, decided to take a drive Thursday morning to see how their area made it through Hurricane Milton.

When she arrived at Lakewood Park Church, she started crying.

The Fort Pierce church that she's been attending for more than a year, and where grandson was recently was baptized, had been devastated.

The church is just down the road from Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, where five people were killed when a tornado, spun off by Hurricane Milton, touched down unexpectedly Wednesday.

A large section of the sanctuary roof was ripped off, windows were blown out, several large trees were uprooted and thrown around the property, including one that was lodged into the windshield of a Lexus that had been left in the parking lot.

Pastor Leo Vollbracht was at the church Thursday morning but declined to comment.

"It's devastating. Devastating," said Larson, her voice shaking. "It really is. I got hit a little but we didn't get bad. We don't have any power or anything, so I said, 'Let's go for a ride and see if everything is OK.' I started to ride down the street and I saw this. I started crying. It was very upsetting."

Dawn Welch, who's been attending the church for three years, said the sanctuary roof and other improvements were made in the past six months.

"It's not easy," Welch said. "I don't know what to say. I knew this happened, I knew about the roof, but I knew none of this damage. It's just not easy."

Multiple people who attended or worked at the church had arrived by mid-morning and were planning to start the cleanup process.

"The people are so great here," Larson said. "I called it my home. I finally came home to a church that I loved.

"We will take care of it."

Good Samaritan at work

Doug Anderson, a Lakewood Park resident who works for R & S Metalworks & Co., saw a tornado crossing Kings Highway as he was heading home from an errand around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

"I saw a semi knocked sideways, a truck knocked sideways," Anderson said. "I followed the wreckage into Spanish Lakes."

The scene there was jarring.

"It looked like someone had dropped a weight from the sky and flattened a bunch of houses," he said.

Anderson said he had never done any kind of good Samaritan work before, but felt he needed to help out if he could.

"I had never been in that position before," he said. "But I saw the position arise. I can't stand to see people in need."

Sheriff's deputies on scene allowed Anderson to help move people injured by suspected tornadoes to a makeshift medical triage center at the Spanish Lakes clubhouse.

Anderson said he spent about five hours on the scene before he was told to go home. During that time, he witnessed numerous people with injuries, including a woman he transported who had a broken leg and two broken wrists.

"There's still blood on the side of my truck," Anderson said.

The property damage was also tremendous, he said.

"One of the last houses I went to looked like it had been ripped in half," he said. "The people were out front crying."

Anderson said it was difficult to manage his emotions while he worked.

"It was very heartbreaking to watch," he said. "It's very hard to keep your composure when you see someone so helpless."

Anderson gave credit to the Sheriff's Office and the other first responders who were working at the scene.

Gas station destroyed

Mohammed Chowdhury, owner of Paradise Pines Citgo in Lakewood Park, made the decision to close his store approximately 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, minutes after receiving a tornado warning.

Five minutes later, a tornado ripped through the store and gas station. No one one was in the store when the tornado hit.

The roof was destroyed, a power pole was downed and the metal covering and one of the concrete pillars that one protected Paradise Pines' gas pumps had been thrown dozens of feet away into some nearby trees.

"I don't know, it's very tough," said Chowdhury, who has owned the store for 20 years. "I've never seen it like this."

The propane tank display and water machines that had been in front of the store were mangled and strewn around the property. Even a bin to donate clothes, that had been on the street corner, was now in some trees behind Paradise Pines. Chowdhury believes it was picked up by the tornado and thrown over the store.

Chowdhury said he returned to the store shortly after the tornado hit because it was being looted.

"I came right back and boarded it up because it was empty" he said. "I can't leave it. People did some looting and took money and some other stuff, but not much.

"Everything is gone."

This story will be updated.