Posted on 02/02/2007 4:52:07 AM PST by Strategerist
LADY LAKE, Florida (CNN) -- Deadly storms swept across central Florida on Friday morning, damaging homes, toppling trees and sending trucks careening off Interstate 4, police said.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said there were "several" fatalities in Lady Lake, where at least two mobile home parks were hit. Authorities could not say how many deaths there were.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Actually for the first 2-3 hours right afterwards it was vastly underhyped - from looking at some weather boards and radar loops it was clear it was likely extremely bad - the media won't hype anything without video....
Glad to see you here this morning.
Oh my gosh, just turned on Fox, I can not believe the absolute devastation and destruction... immediate tears in my eyes. I can't imagine what the final count will be. Lord have mercy.
Honk.
It is going to be bad I'm afraid.
:-)
When I was a kid we lived in Wichita Falls, Texas for a few years. We were there when the powerful tornado hit in the 1960s, the one that leveled part of Shepherd Air Force Base.
I remember it like it was yesterday. My brother and I had the mumps, were home from school. I remember seeing the big funnel in the sky and Mom throwing us under a bed.
It skipped over us and hit where my Dad was working road construction. He took shelter under an overpass, and witnessed cars being lifted off the ground, etc.
I had nightmares about tornados for years after that, long after I became an adult.
We have friends in Lady Lake and in the Villages. Of course we can't get them on the phone. I am praying for them.
Looks like the flow has shifted to the southern end of the county, straight at casa NVA! Palm Bay, duck and cover! Prolly just thumpies though, based on the radar images.
Appears my area just missed it....we're between Palm Bay (where the storm is exiting) and Orlando, but north enough (like McMuffin) so were spared.
Deland is northwest of us.....(they keep showing pictures there)...
It's a lot of elderly folks.....3:00 in the morning....and no warning!
We check our computer before bedtime.....Weather Underground gives us warnings, if need be....
No warning...
It could have been any of us....
Oldngray, Leni, Non Value Added, McMuffin have checked in....haven't heard from Gonzo, MKEhoe, others....
McMuffin....Amen!..Great minds think alike!
No, not yet. She only has a cell phone. The lines are jammed.
Wow, your dad was lucky. I was watching a show that said under an overpass is a very dangerous place to take cover. I can't imagine the nightmares I would have with that.
When I was younger, there was a series that came near our house (mile away). We saw them at a distance. When I lived in Boulder, I was on the way to the airort when I saw a cloud come down and touch, it went back up and then back down. Later a friend in construction said that 2 x 4's were driven into concrete.
So Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach didn't get hit too hard?
Prayers for your friends, and TOL's daughter along with the missing and affected!
I expect the phones will be jammed for sometime not just from downed lines but from people seeing these images.
No warning...
The Tornado Watch box went up at 12:50AM, and the actual tornadoes had warnings which began to be issued at 3:00AM.
There were warnings, but there's nothing that can be done to wake people up if they don't have weather radios and the towns don't have sirens.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.