Florida Tornado Strikes 50 Homes
Severe weather, including a confirmed tornado, damaged about 50 homes in central Florida before the system became a subtropical depression Friday and had parts of the Gulf Coast under tropical storm warnings.
The EF-1 tornado struck Eustis with maximum winds estimated near 105 mph. One person suffered a minor cut, and no other injuries were reported in the area about 30 miles northwest of Orlando, Lake County sheriff's Sgt. John Herrell said. Crews went door to door to make sure everyone was safe after the storm.
Radar indicated a tornado touched down late Thursday from a storm system that crossed through the state before spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said.
That system developed into a subtropical depression hours later, with tropical storm warnings posted from Apalachicola in Florida's Panhandle westward to the mouth of the Mississippi River, including New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center said.
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), the depression had top sustained winds of about 35 mph and was centered about 45 miles southwest of Apalachicola. The depression's center will be moving nearly parallel to the coastline Friday, forecasters said. Rain and wind from the system were still over parts of Florida.
The depression could strengthen slightly, but its poor organization and cool air in the gulf should keep it from becoming more than a weak tropical storm, forecasters said.
"A landfall location is difficult to pinpoint, but in any event the center of a subtropical cyclone is relatively unimportant. Most of the weather associated with the system is well-displaced from the center," senior hurricane specialist James Franklin said.
The city of Eustis was particularly hard hit. "We had about 20 homes that are uninhabitable and have been marked, and about 30 more with some significant damage," City Manager Paul Berg told CBS Radio.
Berg said much of the damage was to roofs and lots of downed trees. "This is an area that has a lot of old, large trees, and we lost quite a few of them," he told CBS.
Herrell said one house has its second story shorn off, but the residents escaped unharmed.
Television news footage showed a boat overturned in a yard, a toppled mobile home and downed trees. About 300 people were without electricity, but power was expected to be restored by sundown, officials said.
Michael Wright told CBS affiliate WKMG correspodnent Jessica D'Onofrio that he was sleeping on a couch seconds before winds sucked the home's roof away - and then the room.
"I stood up because the house was shaking," Wright said. "By the time I stood up and made it through the doorway, the roof blew off." The home was destroyed.
"You put a lot of your heart into your home and you put a lot of your blood, sweat and tears and everything," Marie Wright said.
Brett MacLaughlin said he, his mother and stepfather were sitting on their back porch, watching the thunderstorm, when they noticed odd cloud formations and an eerie quiet.
"That's when we started to hear the freight train that everybody talks about," said MacLaughlin, 20. "It just got louder. The wind picked up immensely within seconds."
The trio ran into the bathroom, where water began pouring out of the toilet as the apparent tornado passed. After the two-minute ordeal, MacLaughlin said he walked out of the bathroom to see a jumble of glass and leaves in the home. A 1950s-era barn behind the home was demolished, he said.
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The EF-1 tornado struck Eustis with maximum winds estimated near 105 mph. One person suffered a minor cut, and no other injuries were reported in the area about 30 miles northwest of Orlando, Lake County sheriff's Sgt. John Herrell said. Crews went door to door to make sure everyone was safe after the storm.
Radar indicated a tornado touched down late Thursday from a storm system that crossed through the state before spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said.
That system developed into a subtropical depression hours later, with tropical storm warnings posted from Apalachicola in Florida's Panhandle westward to the mouth of the Mississippi River, including New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center said.
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), the depression had top sustained winds of about 35 mph and was centered about 45 miles southwest of Apalachicola. The depression's center will be moving nearly parallel to the coastline Friday, forecasters said. Rain and wind from the system were still over parts of Florida.
The depression could strengthen slightly, but its poor organization and cool air in the gulf should keep it from becoming more than a weak tropical storm, forecasters said.
"A landfall location is difficult to pinpoint, but in any event the center of a subtropical cyclone is relatively unimportant. Most of the weather associated with the system is well-displaced from the center," senior hurricane specialist James Franklin said.
The city of Eustis was particularly hard hit. "We had about 20 homes that are uninhabitable and have been marked, and about 30 more with some significant damage," City Manager Paul Berg told CBS Radio.
Berg said much of the damage was to roofs and lots of downed trees. "This is an area that has a lot of old, large trees, and we lost quite a few of them," he told CBS.
Herrell said one house has its second story shorn off, but the residents escaped unharmed.
Television news footage showed a boat overturned in a yard, a toppled mobile home and downed trees. About 300 people were without electricity, but power was expected to be restored by sundown, officials said.
Michael Wright told CBS affiliate WKMG correspodnent Jessica D'Onofrio that he was sleeping on a couch seconds before winds sucked the home's roof away - and then the room.
"I stood up because the house was shaking," Wright said. "By the time I stood up and made it through the doorway, the roof blew off." The home was destroyed.
"You put a lot of your heart into your home and you put a lot of your blood, sweat and tears and everything," Marie Wright said.
Brett MacLaughlin said he, his mother and stepfather were sitting on their back porch, watching the thunderstorm, when they noticed odd cloud formations and an eerie quiet.
"That's when we started to hear the freight train that everybody talks about," said MacLaughlin, 20. "It just got louder. The wind picked up immensely within seconds."
The trio ran into the bathroom, where water began pouring out of the toilet as the apparent tornado passed. After the two-minute ordeal, MacLaughlin said he walked out of the bathroom to see a jumble of glass and leaves in the home. A 1950s-era barn behind the home was demolished, he said.
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April 3rd 1974 4:40 p.m. Xenia OH it totally sucked that day and for several years afterwards.
Posted by mercyme884 at 03:53 PM
Just so you are aware... There are several churches in the area where this tornado hit, as well as several bars. None of either category were mentioned as being damaged, only houses and apartments. No one was killed, so I guess everyone in Eustis is a really good person! I know this town well, having lived less than 10 miles from there for several years and within 25 miles of there for most of my life. I even worked at the old hospital that is in the tornado-hit area, and it wasn''t hit either, from what I have been able to find. So what does this say about your statements? That I don''t think you know what God thinks, and I''m sure he doesn''t appreciate you putting words in his mouth.