Toppled trees, crushed homes and answered prayers: Families recount surviving the storm

Severe thunderstorms will move through the Pensacola region Wednesday, bringing a risk of flash flooding, strong winds, and the potential for strong tornadoes.

The National Weather Service said destructive straight-line winds with gust up to 80 mph are possible, and 2 to 4 inches of rain are expected, with the possibility of up to 6 inches in some areas. There is also the possibility of quarter-sized hail.

Family forced to leave home due to tree damage: "We've lived here a day."

Roberts Havens knows that "God handles everything."

His prayers were surely heard Wednesday.

Strong wind gust uprooted a massive tree and toppled it onto his mobile home Wednesday, very nearly crushing him and his roommate underneath.

Havens said he was sitting on the couch on his phone and his roommate was at the kitchen table playing cards when the tree fell.

"I heard like a 'snap' or 'crack' or something and I jumped up, and I walked over and I grabbed him by the arm and I said, 'Get back to here!' So, we ran straight back to the bathroom ... and right when we got in there, that's when the tree fell and the ceiling in the bathroom did this," Ravens said, folded arm downward to imitate the ceiling caving in.

Ravens still had his phone in his hands and was able to call 911. He estimated they spent 10 or 15 minutes trapped in the bathroom before they were rescued by first responders. He said he just prayed as he waited, and luckily, he and his roommate escaped unharmed.

The home was severely damaged and for the time being they are staying in a hotel, but nonetheless Havens is counting his blessings.

"We just thought the whole thing is going to fall in on us, but thank God it didn't," he said.

Brittany Starks and Laura Feeley were in the mobile home next door. A tree hit the back end of their trailer, collapsing a portion of a bedroom ceiling while they were underneath it. They scrambled out from under the debris, gathered up Starks' three children and hunkered down in the bathtub.

"They were screaming, crying, terrified," Starks said of her children. "It was the worst thing I've ever seen my kids go through. Because as a mother you're like, 'I want to protect them,' you know? It was scary."

They all escaped unharmed but will also have stay in a hotel for a while due to the damage to their home. They had barely even had time to get settled in before the tragedy struck.

"We've lived here a day," Starks said. "We've been in that trailer one day ... we literally just put our deposit down and everything, signed our lease and just moved in."

Winds sounded like a 'bullhorn' before toppling trees

General contractors with the The English Company were working on a renovation project in the Hope Life Church on Olive Road when the storm hit the area Wednesday afternoon.

The owners' sons, David and Ryan English, were both stuck outside while the storm picked up steam and wrought havoc during its quick appearance.

Ryan described the storm as a “bullhorn” coming through as they watched the trees in the area get thrown around by its winds.

“We came out here to look when it was raining real hard. Then it stopped raining, got real quiet and then really bright like the sun was out,” he said. “The leaves started going. Then that’s when we heard (the storm) that sounded like a train was coming up the tracks.”

“We tried to get inside but because of the vortex, the door was shut. That’s when we heard the awning fly up onto the roof,” Ryan continued.

Trees landed in the nearby Woodridge Mobile Village, on the Hope Life Church and in the middle of the street on Olive Road.

Workers of the English Company were removing the trees and debris from the road so that passersby could safely drive.

“First (tornado) I’ve ever been in… For a hurricane you get a warning but a tornado is like a boom,” English said.

The Weather Service has not yet confirmed if the winds that caused damage throughout the area was a tornado.

Woodridge Mobile Home Village damaged

The storm hit residents of Woodridge Mobile Village swiftly and hard, and many have left their homes on North Palafox and Olive streets in order to find a more secure place to ride out the remnants of the storm that is expected to return early this evening.

They described the storm as a “flash” with howling winds that made it feel like their entire home was going along with it.

“We’ve got six houses that have trees on them, one of them is the office where it went through the roof,” said Woodridge Mobile Village Manager Tammy Clark.

“The sirens went off and within five minutes the wind and rain was going sideways, this was what we got a few minutes later,” Clark continued.

Clark said that the complex was waiting on Florida Power and Light to cut their power in order to begin removing the fallen trees from homes.

“It was really bad, my whole trailer shook and my windows rattled. It literally sounded like the top of my roof was coming down,” said Woodridge resident Kristen Terrell, who left the village with her dog as she couldn’t trust her home’s security.

“It was very quick, from the warning we had maybe five minutes,” Terrell said. “We heard the wind pick up really fast but by the time we heard it, it was on top of us.”

Pensacola police reopen 5 closed streets, warn of more flooding

Pensacola police have reopened the intersection at A and Garden streets, N and Garden streets, L and Garden streets, and Scenic Highway and Creighton Road.

PPD spokesperson Mike Wood said that although those intersections have been reopened, they could flood again as more rain falls.

Escambia, Santa Rosa FPL outages now over 1,700

FPL are now reporting over 1,700 outages between Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

According to their power tracker, roughly 1,116 customers in Escambia are without power, and 584 customers in Santa Rosa are without power.

Santa Rosa assessing damage as high winds rip through Pace homes

Large tree branches are down and some homes are damaged in the Woodlands neighborhood in Pace. Santa Rosa County says many of the homes have shingles missing.

A two-by-four reported flew through the side of one house on Thistle Pine Court and another home on the same road had a tin roof ripped off a shed.

White Birch Court and Peach drive also have homes with reported damage.

The county is still assessing damages.

Straight lines winds knock down trees and power lines

Straight line winds knocked down trees and power lines in the area of Longleaf and Community Drive, said Escambia County Administrator Wes Moreno. The winds also caused damage to a mobile home in the same area and people were trapped inside. Escambia Fire Rescue pulled them out and no one is believed to be seriously hurt.

There currently are no plans to activate the Escambia EOC right now but officials continue to monitor the storm. If necessary, Marie K. Young Community Center in Wedgewood will be a shelter and ECAT buses are on stand by to transport people to the shelter if need be. So far, no evacuations have been needed.

Tornado Watch canceled for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties

The National Weather Service canceled the tornado watch for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties at 2:48 p.m. The watch was originally issued to run until 5 p.m.

ECSO begins road closures due to storm debris

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office closed down Community Drive near Longleaf Elementary School due to downed power lines and debris in the roadway.

Alternate routes are available.

Severe Thunderstorm warning ends for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, flooding remains a threat

The severe thunderstorm warning of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties has expired as a line of severe thunderstorms has moved to the east.

Rain continues in the area and flash flooding will become a potential danger as rain continues.

Trees and powerlines have been damaged in the Bellview area near Longleaf Drive and Pine Forest Road.

Florida Power and Light reports that more than 1,300 customers are without power in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

Tornado warning for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties expires, severe thunderstorm warning continues until 2:30 p.m.

The tornado warning that was issued for central Escambia and Santa Rosa counties was allowed to expire. The severe thunderstorm warning for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties continues until 2:30 p.m.

Only the Pensacola and Pensacola Beach areas remain in the thunderstorm warning.

17th Avenue closed at Graffiti Bride due to flooding

The Pensacola Police Department has closed 17th Avenue at the train trestle due to flooding.

Tornado warning for central Escambia and Santa Rosa counties until 2 p.m.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for central Escambia and Santa Rosa counties until 2 p.m.

The warning covers Bellview, Brent, West Pensacola, Ferry Pass, Pace, Mulat, and Milton.

Naval Air Station Pensacola, Corry Station close at 1:30 p.m.

Due to anticipated inclement weather conditions, Naval Air Station Pensacola and Corry Station will curtail normal operations and close the installations to all visitors and non-essential personnel at 1:30 p.m.

Tornado warning for north Escambia and Santa Rosa counties until 1:30 p.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for northern Escambia and Santa Rosa counties until 1:30 p.m.

Century, McDavid, Bluff Springs, Bratt and Brownsdale are included in the warning.

Severe Thunderstorm warning issued for all of Escambia County and most of Santa Rosa County until 1:45 p.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for all of Escambia County and most of Santa Rosa County until 1:45 p.m.

The weather service said winds of up to 60 mph and the potential for penny-sized hail.

Northwest Escambia County under severe thunderstorm warning until 1 p.m.

Northwest Escambia County is under a severe thunderstorm warning until 1 p.m. The warning covers a large area of Mobile and Baldwin counties in Alabama.

Escambia County monitoring storm from EOC

Travis Tompkins, Escambia County’s emergency manager, says the county is monitoring the storm from the Emergency Operations Center, but the EOC has not been activated.

“Our biggest impact will be this evening, so I don’t think it’s a good idea (to go out),” Tompkins told the News Journal. “I would recommend staying home this evening.”

Tompkins also told the News Journal that severe gusts of winds could be problematic and recommends residents put up outside furniture or anything that could become airborne.

He also says sand is still available to pick up.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says emergency management is ready to respond

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that the Florida Division of Emergency Management is preparing to rapidly deploy if needed to any areas impacted by severe weather.

"Residents should prepare now and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts overnight," DeSantis said on X.

National Weather Service upgrades severe weather risk category to level 4 of 5

The National Weather Service's storm prediction center issued a new severe weather outlook Wednesday that raised the severe weather risk the Pensacola from an "enhanced" risk to a "moderate" risk. A moderate risk is a level 4 of 5 categories of severe weather risk issued by the weather service.

The upgrade means the probability of severe weather in the area, including strong winds and strong tornadoes, has increased.

"The potential will exist for several tornadoes, a few of which may be strong, and widespread damaging winds," the Storm Prediction Center said.

Escambia County offices closing

Escambia County has announced it's closing most county offices at 1 p.m. because of the severe weather.

Offices closing at 1 p.m. include:

• Escambia County Board of County Commissioners - all departments

• West Florida Public Libraries - all locations

• Escambia County Tax Collector - all offices

  • Lines will close by 12:30 p.m. for transactions to be completed by 1 p.m.

• Escambia County Supervisor of Elections

• Escambia County Extension Services

• The Clerk of the Court and Comptroller - all offices

Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are under a tornado watch until 5 p.m.

The National Weather Service said Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are under a tornado watch until 5 p.m.

The watch includes Okaloosa County and much of southeast Alabama as well.

A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in the watch area, and people should monitor weather sources for the latest develops.

Severe weather predictions: Severe weather expected to move into Pensacola area Wednesday afternoon

For a complete list of cancellations: Follow this link

Severe weather preparations: As severe weather predictions worsen, here's what you need to know on Wednesday

See the latest watches and warnings in effect for Escambia, Santa Rosa, counties

Radar for Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa counties, including Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach

Rainfall expected? See the latest forecast for Pensacola

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Severe weather Pensacola area live update in Escambia, Milton, Navarre