The clean-up process after Hurricane Milton has officially begun as residents begin to return to their homes and attempt to rebuild what they have lost. As of Friday, the death toll from the storm sits at about 13 with six of those coming from St. Lucie County where a tornado, generated by Milton, tore through a retirement living center. In a breakdown, conducted by ABC News, four storm-related deaths occurred in Volusia County; two in St. Petersburg; and one death in Citrus County.

Several Florida residents were caught off guard by the tornado as many of them had only prepared for heavy rain, strong winds and especially storm surges. On Wednesday, the day that Milton officially made landfall in the Sunshine State, the National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings.

“Certainly that will be a notable part of this storm, was how many tornadoes occurred within such a short period,” said Matthew Elliott, warning coordination meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center “Another thing I think I can say — our buildings that were built in the last 20 or 30 years, they did very well.”

Several breathtaking images of the storm, including one from the International Space Station have made their way online and gone viral. Those who have refused to leave their homes also posted videos on the social media platform, TikTok, detailing how they are dealing with the aftermath of the storm. It is currently unknown the total amount of damage the counties in the hurricane’s path sustained.

For those who are returning to their homes, wildlife experts have issued a warning that there will be increased alligator sightings due to the flooding. “There will be lots of disturbed animals on the move, they’re trying to survive the storm too,” said Christopher Gillette, who operates a wildlife refuge in Putnam County. According to Gillette the worst is alligators as they can submerge themselves and not breathe for six hours.

“They’re going to go down, slow their heart rate down, and literally hold their breath for six hours. That’s what they do in inclement weather like that – just sit on the bottom and wait it out. We’ve got ponds they’re in that are six feet deep, so they’ll be perfectly fine in there,” he said. “There will be many displaced animals that people have to watch out for, including snakes on the ground.”