LONGWOOD, Fla. – A rare EF-2 tornado ripped through Longwood on Monday, destroying a two-story home, damaging other houses and uprooting many trees, the National Weather Service said.
The tornado packed winds of up to 115 mph and lasted for at least five minutes while on the ground for nearly 2 miles, according to NWS meteorologist William Ulrich, who cited a preliminary investigation.
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No injuries have been reported.
Earlier in the day, the Seminole County Fire Department said two people were in the two-story home on Blue Iris Place off Markham Woods Road at the time of the collapse, but both were unharmed.
Seminole County Fire Department Assistant Chief Tod Zellers said a couple of subdivisions took the brunt of the damage.
“It does appear there is a lot of severe damage running across the area out here on Markham Woods Road. There are downed power lines, trees in the roads and debris everywhere,” Zellers said.
He said the pair in the home mentioned that the weather event happened very quickly, and they took shelter when they received a tornado warning.
Zellers said the home was completely damaged “except the corner that they (the residents) were in.”
A few blocks away, a News 6 crew saw a vehicle covered by downed trees and some damage behind a home in the area of Spanish Oak Trail and Markham Woods Road.
Ulrich said the NWS began tracking the strong storm cell as it entered Florida off the Gulf in the Tampa area.
He said the tornado touched down with EF-1 intensity a couple of minutes after a tornado warning was issued in Seminole County.
The tornado then strengthened as it approached the Wingfield Reserve and Whispering Winds communities before crossing over Markham Woods Road and went east of I-4.
“We do believe it crossed I-4 near Skyline Drive,” Ulrich added. “We need to still go there to determine if it remained on the ground for any additional length of time, and we will be doing that after the conclusion of (this) press briefing."
“Generally speaking, 90% of tornadoes that the state of Florida sees are generally EF00 or EF-1 tornadoes, which are still potentially damaging because they, too, can have winds up to 100mph,” Ulrich said. “But to see winds of 115mph or greater is a rare phenomenon for us here in Central Florida."
Ulrich said the windspeed of the tornado compares with a Category 2-3 hurricane, although it was only on the ground for a limited time.
“(Witnesses) said it lasted about 30-60 seconds in each location,” said Ulrich, adding that several roofs were “peeled back” and there were numerous toppled trees in the area.
The severe weather also overturned a big rig in Lake Mary, but the driver and his dog were not hurt.
“We did have a driver and his dog in the semi when it did get flipped by the wind event. They’re both OK, and we’re really grateful for that,” a Lake Mary first responder said.
While holding his dachshund, the driver said he was lying down and resting in the back of the truck when the storm struck.
Through a translator, the driver said he was very scared because the big rig was lifted into the air and then hit the ground.
“This is a reminder that February is the peak of tornado season,” he added. “This is the time of year -- February and March -- to be prepared for these violent tornadoes.”
Ulrich was then asked if he was surprised that no one was injured in the storms.
“I heard from a lot of the folks who lived there and they had just enough time to do what they were supposed to do, which was getting to that interior room in their home away from doors and windows, because we want to keep them away from that glass that could potentially be shattering or, you know, having a wall or their roof come down on them,” he said. “Very, very grateful there weren’t any injuries."
Hundreds of Duke Energy customers were without power in the area, according to an outage map.
Several severe weather warnings were issued Monday morning across Central Florida, from Sumter to Volusia counties.