'A war zone': Dozens rebuilding after EF-1 tornado touches down in Brevard County
EF-1 tornado touches down in Brevard County
An EF-1 tornado touched down in South Patrick Shores on Wednesday, leaving dozens without power and damaging homes. The National Weather Service confirmed the damage to roofs, porches and fences are in line with a tornado producing 90-100 mile per hour winds.
SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. - An EF-1 tornado touched down in South Patrick Shores in Brevard County, Florida on Wednesday, leaving dozens without power and damaging homes.
The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed the damage to roofs, porches, and fences is in line with a tornado producing 90-100 mile per hour winds. Around 50 homes were damaged and over 100 people lost power for hours Wednesday night into Thursday.
"I rushed over here and came back to a war zone," said Jon Manzi whose home in South Patrick Shores has been under renovation.
He was away from the area when the tornado hit and said his home needs even more repairs now. The back shed exploded, leaving appliances scattered throughout the yard and tearing the concrete walls off the family room.
The tornado touched down around 5:20 p.m. and moved quickly through the area before going over the ocean.
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"This circulation that developed over the river developed very rapidly," said William Ulrich who is a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida.
The NWS was on site Thursday surveying damage. Ulrich said the storm left its mark, crushing cars and toppling trees in about a seven-block radius of South Patrick Shores.
"A tornado – you would never figure a tornado to come through here and do this kind of destruction," Manzi added. "This is unprecedented."
"Mostly, the tornados we have – a lot of those are associated with hurricane events, so I don’t think they’ve had a tornado like this, in this area in memory," added Don Walker who’s a public information officer with Brevard County.
He said numerous city and county agencies partnered to assist homeowners. Even though some properties experienced extensive damage, no injuries were reported. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross are assisting families in need, and neighbors are helping each other pick up the pieces.
"I’m thankful myself, my wife and daughter and my pets are safe today," Manzi concluded.
A lot of people say the emergency notifications were a big help in getting to safety. Now that we’re in hurricane season, county officials are encouraging to have emergency notifications enabled on all their devices.