FLORIDA (352today.com) – The strong storms that plowed across the Sunshine State on Tuesday hit the Panhandle first, leaving behind significant damage. North-central Florida didn’t escape damage, but the impact wasn’t as destructive.
As the system moved from west to east, it prompted multiple tornado warnings along the way.
In the Panhandle, Bay County Emergency Services reported damage in Panama City and Panama City Beach. The powerful winds blew roofs off homes, toppled RVs and crumpled the Treasure Island Marina.
In the Treasure Circle area of Panama City Beach, the powerful storm lifted a house off its footings, leaving it tilted like something out of a Ripley’s Believe it or Not attraction.
“We’ve rescued people out of structures,” said Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford. They said they transported five people for injuries but no deaths were reported.
About 70 miles northeast in Jackson County, photos show damage to a campground and RV park in Marianna.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who gave his State of the State address Tuesday as tornado warnings were active outside the Capitol, issued an executive order placing 49 counties in north Florida under a state of emergency.
“Every government building except this one is closed in Tallahassee because of the weather,” DeSantis said at the start of the speech. “We just do what we do in Florida: We respond when these things happen… We’ll handle whatever fallout is from these dangerous tornadoes.”
“The winds were no joke,” said 352today’s Whitney Zarder as she captured video when the line of thunderstorms rolled through her Sumter County neighborhood of Oxford Oaks which is just off Hwy 301.
The National Weather Service reported gusting upwards of 60 mph which downed trees and power poles in north-central Florida.
In the coast community of Crystal River, the heavy rain left some standing water on the roadways but didn’t shutdown any roads said City Manager Doug Baber. The tourist town known as the home of the manatee is used to roads in low-lying areas getting overrun with water, especially when the rainfall coincides with the high tide.
