The extensive storm system, which quickly moved through central Florida on Monday morning, created a powerful tornado near Lake Mary, flattening most of the house, damaging the roof, knocking down trees, and leaving hundreds of residents without power.
Emergency officials said no one was injured in the destroyed four-bedroom home on a whispering wind plot off Markham Woods Road.
“It’s nothing more than a miracle that they were able to make it safely,” Seminole Sheriff Dennis Lemma said of the couple inside. “These storms move very quickly.”
Hearing several tornado warnings from the National Weather Service that had been called by phone immediately after 8:30am, the unknown couple immediately sought shelter in a safe room in the corner of their home, county officials said. It was the only part of the 3,000 square foot home that was not completely destroyed.
“We’re excited to be able to help you get started,” said Alan Harris, director of emergency management at the Seminoles.
William Ulrich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, said a tornado (which packs winds up to 115 mph) formed in Wekiwa Springs State Park and moved northeast at about 45 miles. We landed for about a minute in the offshore area of Markham Woods Road, then lifted across Interstate 4 and headed east before radiating nearly two miles away.
It is not uncommon for tornados to form within a rapidly moving storm system that brings a cold front during this period, Ulrich said.
“This is a reminder that February and March are tornado seasons in central Florida,” he said.
Ulrich pointed out that on February 2, 2007, several tornadoes landed in Sumter and Lake counties, killing 21 people. On February 23, 1998, a series of tornadoes killed 42 people in Osceola and Seminole counties.
Near the destroyed home, Don Flanagan and his wife, Janet, were preparing to head to breakfast when they also received a tornado warning on their mobile phone. They quickly leaned back into the closet.
Suddenly they heard the loud roar of the wind outside. A giant Laurel oak tree from over 100 years ago collapsed on the roof of a Markham Woods Drive house in its front yard, drilling holes in the roof and sending branches to the kitchen.
Flanagan, who built the house in 1995, said: Things can be corrected. Mother Nature does what she does. ”
Still rocking, Flanagan roamed his property, pointing out several other trees and large limbs that had fallen in the storm. The siding and the soffit fragments either came back from his house or were torn completely apart.
In his backyard, the enclosed trailer was turned over and landed upside down on a shed and flat trailer.
“We’re from Oklahoma so we take these storms seriously,” he said. “We know what they can do.”
Along Markham Woods Road, just west of I-4, numerous emergency vehicles lined the road. The tree company crew had already arrived within hours to begin cleaning up the debris. Roof representatives and insurance companies were already on the scene.
Television reports on Fox 35 and WKMG-CH. 6 showed a half-sided uck that was overturned by the intersection of Commerce Street and Lake Emma Road on Lake Mary. The driver and his dog were in the truck when they were turned over, but neither of them were injured, the station reported.
As the rapidly moving system entered the area, the Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Lake and Orange Counties by 8:30 a.m., and the system threatened Seminole and Volsia Counties.
The Weather Service confirmed that a tornado was moving northeast at 30 mph above Lake Mary at 9:42 a.m. The alert was updated at 9:50am, moving 45 miles northeast, saying a confirmed tornado was above Sanford.
Lake Mary’s Fox 35 Studios lived in the air when the tornado moved near the studio.
“Can you see that area where it’s raining? Do you see it? That might be it. Everyone, fill up that camera. OK, this is a live view from our TV station that may at least be there, and it’s heavy raining above the I-4 for now,” said Brooks Garner, a Fox 35 meteorologist.
“This is looking at the live camera of the tornado. Ok, there are debris. There are debris,” he continued. “Okay, I’ll take shelter. If everyone in the Fox 35 building is not in the designated area, we’ll go to a safe space under the desk. We’re now catching debris on the roof. The debris is now on the roof.”
“This is a confirmed tornado. The National Weather Service, if you’re hearing, this is a confirmed tornado just above Lake Mary Studios,” he said. “This is heading for Lake Mary and Sanford right now.”
Station anchor Ryan Elijah said everyone at the station was fine, but there was some damage.
