Port Orange woman loses carport as storm sweeps through neighborhood
PORT ORANGE, Fla. - On Monday night, a Port Orange woman experienced the full force of a Florida storm when powerful winds destroyed her carport, sending debris flying across her street.
Denise Sabino described how the storm seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"No rain, no wind, nothing," she recalled. "Then, all of a sudden, I heard a whistle."
Sabino said she saw what looked like a tornado barreling toward her home, likening the experience to a scene from The Wizard of Oz. While she and her house emerged unscathed, her carport was obliterated entirely, with the winds hurling it roughly the length of a football field toward a neighbor’s property.
"I called the office and said, if somebody is looking for their carport, I got part of it here," said neighbor Richard Kovacs.
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Sabino and a friend who was with her at the time believed a tornado had caused the damage. However, William Ulrich, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorologist, expressed doubt, noting the lack of damage in the surrounding area.
"With the evidence we have at this time, we can't say directly that it was a tornado," Ulrich said.
The National Weather Service suggests that heavy winds, rather than a tornado, likely destroyed the carport.
Regardless of the storm's exact nature, Sabino is thankful that the damage was limited.
"Well, if it happens once, it probably won't happen again, so I'm good. That's all I can say," she remarked.
A few other homes in the neighborhood sustained wind damage, but Sabino's home appeared to bear the brunt of the storm.