Tamarac Residents Clean Up After Tornado
TAMARAC (CBS4) – Dozens of residents in Tamarac are cleaning up the damage from a tornado that touched down Tuesday without warning.
The tornado left a mile-long path of roofing and tree damage across parts of Tamarac and North Lauderdale, and had top winds of 90 mph.
The city's cleanup crew pulled debris from local canals and waterways. Resident Sandra Cudler, who saw the tornado, said she's relieved that the tornado wasn't worse.
"We're very fortunate, very fortunate," she said. "We wish our neighbors were too. It's a sad thing to see what's going on."
Dan Gregoria of the National Weather Service said it's unusual for tornadoes to develop this time of year in South Florida.
According to National Weather Service report on the tornado:
"This tornado developed quickly on the collision of two thunderstorm "outflow boundaries". These boundaries are generated by rain-cooled air spreading out from the downdraft of the thunderstorms. When thunderstorm outflow boundaries collide, they can generate enough "spin" and lift to cause the formation of a tornado…and such was the case on this day."
The tornado slowly dropped from the sky at 5:03 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The twister reportedly touched down near University Drive and McNab Road in central Broward County, according to the National Weather Service.
Click here to see a gallery of the tornado as submitted by CBS4 viewers.
The city said approximately 30 to 40 home sustained damage from the tornado, CBS4's Kara Kostanich reported.
No injuries were reported, though the roof partially peeled off one home and frame windows were blown out from a couple others.
Resident Lea Baldwin was home when the tornado hit her neighborhood. She could get no further than the kitchen before dropping to the floor for safety.
"It was so loud," she said. "It's like the rumbling. It's horrific. I don't even know the right words for it."
Baldwin said her handicapped daughter was in the only bedroom that wasn't damaged.
"That's the almighty," cried Baldwin. "He kept her. He kept her. He kept her. If you see, it's only right there. It stopped right there! My baby was there."
The city deemed her home unsafe to live in.
In the same neighborhood, Ron Pond lost his 40 year old mango tree.
"A guy has come up every year from Key West to buy my mangos. This year he won't find any tree."
Pond has roof damage and window damage and is now getting estimates for repairs.
Insurance adjusters, roofers and construction workers were in the city Wednesday looking for business.
"For the wind to hit as hard at it did…it was a good one," Pat Nelson of Clark Roofing said. "These are solid roofs."
The storm also knocked out power to hundreds of customers in Broward County. Tuesday night, around 1,900 people were without power in Broward, with many of them in Tamarac.
Broward Emergency Management Director Chuck Lanza says the tornado is a good reminder about a website residents should become familiar with in the event of a storm.
The website allows residents to tell the county how bad the damage is to their home by choosing one of four photos that best describes the impact… The website sends a GPS location to the county. The info gets plotted on a map and officials can dispatch whatever help is needed.
"We want to make sure we pinpoint the right resources to the right neighborhoods," said Lanza.
Lanza says it's important for residents to assess the damage quickly so it frees up first responders to handle emergency calls.
"If they're not doing it then police and firefighters, they're the ones that are tasked with doing it" said Lanza. "So instead of them doing police and fire business, they're now doing damage assessment."
Tuesday's tornado rated an EF1 on the Enhance Fujita Scale which is used to determine tornado strength; the strongest tornadoes are rated EF5.
Click Here for more information about Broward County's storm damage app.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
