Quote:
Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter
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From The Villages News excerpt:
Florida's second worst tornado
outbreak was called the Groundhog
Day outbreak -- and it devastated
The Villages. It all began around 3
a.m. on Feb. 2, 2007. The outbreak
produced three tornadoes. The first
tornado grazed Wildwood on its
East-Northeast path toward The
Villages. At 3:10 a.m. it touched
down onto Bailey Trail as an EF-3
tornado, traveling at nearly 60 mph
while producing 160 mph winds
The tornado traveled across the
entire mid-section of The Villages as it raced East-Northeastward and
then exited five minutes later at 3:15
a.m. In those brief yet terrifying five
minutes, the tornado damaged
approximately 1,300 Villages
homes. Some homes only
experienced light damage while
others suffered massive
destruction.Even though most
residents were sound asleep when
the tornado hit, there were amazingly
no fatalities, but there were many injuries. After leaving The Villages, that first
tornado entered Lake County and
continued its destructive path into
trailer courts and unprepared
residents which resulted in several
deaths. A second tornado hit Deland
and a third tornado hit New Smyrna
Beach. The three Groundhog Day
tornadoes caused 21 deaths,
hundreds of injuries, and $218
million in damages
The Villages 2007 tornado happened
very fast and it could happen again.
The first tornado warning was not
issued until just 8 minutes before it
hit, plus no one saw the funnel cloud
because it was dark. By the time
residents were awakened by the
train-like roaring sound and the train-like roaring sound and the
violent battering of debris against
the walls and windows, it was too
late for many to get to their safe rooms...
In summary, prepare ahead: know where the safest place is in your house. Make sure you have a weather alert weather or weather app and have it loud enough to hear it if you are sleeping. It's almost impossible to see funnel clouds during the night, so time is important if it alerts you. My bedroom alert is set for tornado warnings only, because including tornado watches set it off too frequently in other S A.M E counties nearby. Last year the warnings went off several times during a few scary nights. My phone has apps set for a few bad weather alerts (silent) for a wider zone in case I am traveling about so I am aware. Tornadoes have happened here.