Tornado watch canceled for South Florida but twister tears up Fort Myers mobile home park

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post

A strong cold front pushing through South Florida lashed the state Sunday with storms including at least one tornado that shredded mobile homes in Fort Myers.

The National Weather Service in Miami canceled a tornado watch for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties shortly before 2 p.m. While tornado warnings were issued for areas of western Palm Beach County, including Belle Glade and Pahokee, no damage had been reported to the NWS as of early afternoon.

Reports to the National Weather Service office in Tampa say "extensive" damage was done in Fort Myers near the Gulf Harbor Marina from a waterspout that came onshore.

Meteorologists were already on their way to Fort Myers to investigate the damage starting at the Century 21 mobile community Sunday morning.

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“Intensity, track and all that is to be determined, and we have meteorologists headed down there now to assess the damage,” said Stephen Shiveley, with NWS in Ruskin, which covers the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area. “We’ve done lots of studies over the years and to determine intensity we need to see the damage. We’ll be able to estimate the actual wind speed from that.”

A confirmed tornado hit in the Iona section of Fort Myers on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
A confirmed tornado hit in the Iona section of Fort Myers on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Edward Murray, 81, was in his mobile home at Windcrest and Point Breeze in Cottage Point Trailer Park in Fort Myers on Sunday morning when a tornado picked up the structure and tossed it on top of a neighbor's home.

"That’s my house that’s turned upside down," he said. “The tornado took me off my feet blew me toward the east wall and buried me under the sink, refrigerator, kitchen chairs and everything else.”

A former Chicago resident, Murray and his daughter, Cokie, escaped unharmed, crawling from the wreckage.

“I was so happy when I saw the sky,” Murray said. “I said to the devil, 'It’s not going to be today'.”

LIVE UPDATES: Tornado, strong storms destroy dozens of homes in Southwest Florida

Storm Prediction Center has most of South Florida under a slight chance for severe weather.
Storm Prediction Center has most of South Florida under a slight chance for severe weather.

NWS meteorologists in Miami called the winter storm slicing through the Southeast "formidable" and said severe weather could last through at least late this afternoon for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade counties.

The Storm Prediction Center has much of South Florida under a slight risk of severe weather, which is the second level of concern on a 5-tier scale. That was upgraded from the lowest level that had been issued early Sunday.

In Palm Beach County, the 33rd annual Downtown Delray Beach Festive of the Arts was canceled Sunday because of the storm threat.

"Our first priority is the safety of our artists and patrons," said Howard Alan, founder of Howard Alan Events.

A wind gust of 55 mph was measured in Boca Raton at 1:10 p.m.

Skies are expected to clear tonight with low temperatures dipping to 54 degrees at the southeast coast. Monday will reach about 70 degrees, but then plummet overnight to a chilly 48 degrees.

Naples Daily News staff writer Chad Gillis contributed to this report.

The Fort Myers News-Press contributed to this report.

Kmiller@pbpost.com

@Kmillerweather

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tornado watch canceled for Palm Beach County, Florida: Weather updates