Florida man's home damaged in suspected tornado amid Hurricane Milton: 'All hell let loose'

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Published  October 10, 2024 1:08am EDT
FOX 35 Orlando
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Milton destroys Florida man's home: 'All hell let loose'

FOX 35's Stephanie Buffamonte is live in Cocoa Beach where a tornado caused extensive damage at a man's home. Hurricane Milton spawned more than 130 tornado warnings across Florida as the storm moved through.

COCOA BEACH, Fla. - A Florida man said he is thankful to be alive after a suspected tornado spawned by Hurricane Milton ripped off a building's roof and tossed it on top of his home.

The suspected touched down around 6:30 p.m. in Cocoa Beach, the homeowner, named Gary, told FOX 35's Stephanie Buffamonte. He and his wife were watching the news at the time and saw the tornado warning, he said.

"We walked to the next room, which is the kitchen, looked out the back," he said, "and then just all hell let loose."

He and his wife found what appeared to be a roof from another building that hit the top of his house, knocking a hole in his roof and taking out the sidewall. Gary lives not far from the Wells Fargo bank that had its roof blown off by tornadic winds.

At the time Gary said he was about to walk outside to turn off the pool pump, but his wife stopped him.

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"And it wasn’t 20-30 seconds later that the wind just went crazy, the tornado came in and all this happened," he said. "And I would’ve been standing right here turning the pool pump off when it happened.

"So I've got a lot to thank her for," he said. "More than normal."

On top of that, Gary said he and his wife just finished renovations of their home a week and a half ago. Still, he is thankful not to be hurt.

"This can be fixed," he said. "We're all OK, that's the main thing."

There were more than 130 tornado warnings issued across Central and South Florida in the hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall as the outer bands crossed over the state. Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday as a Category 3 storm.

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