Updated Report...

An update from the survey team:...DAMAGE SURVEYS NOW INDICATE THAT AT LEAST THREE TORNADOES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION... THE LATEST REPORT FROM THE LAKE COUNTY TEAM IS THAT THE TORNADO WHICH RIPPED THROUGH THE VILLAGES AND LADY LAKE WAS HIGH END EF-3 WITH WINDS OF 155 TO 160 MPH.

THE VILLAGES/LADY LAKE TORNADO...TORNADO NUMBER 1...INITIALLY TOUCHED DOWN IN SUMTER COUNTY NEAR WILDWOOD AND THE VILLAGES AND THEN CROSSED OVER INTO LAKE COUNTY TO STRIKE LADY LAKE WHERE THE FIRST EVENT FATALITIES OCCURRED. IT HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AS AN EF-3 TORNADO WHICH CAUSED DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES WHERE MOST WALLS COLLAPSED EXCEPT FOR THEIR INTERIOR ROOMS...AS WELL AS LARGE TREES BECAME DEBARKED WITH ONLY THE STUBS OF THE LARGEST BRANCHES REMAINING. MOBILE HOMES WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED. THIS TORNADO WAS ONE-QUARTER MILE WIDE DURING ITS MOST FIERCE MOMENTS. THE TORNADO LIFTED EAST OF LADY LAKE WITH AN APPROXIMATE PATH LENGTH OF ABOUT 15 MILES. THE TORNADO STRUCK LADY LAKE AT 320 AM. CURRENTLY...SIX KNOWN FATALITIES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TORNADO.

THE LAKE MACK/DELAND TORNADO...TORNADO NUMBER 2...WAS ALSO HIGH END EF-3 WITH WINDS OF 160 TO 165 MPH. IT WAS ALSO ONE-QUARTER MILE WIDE. IT RESULTED IN COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF MOBILE HOMES...AND CAUSED LARGE TREES TO BECOME DEBARKED. THE ESTIMATED TORNADO WINDS NEAR LAKE MACK PEAKED AT 165 MPH WHICH RESULTED IN 11 FATALITIES... AND 150 TO 155 MPH WINDS AT FOREST DRIVE AND STATE ROAD 44 WHICH RESULTED IN 3 MORE FATALITIES. A TOTAL OF 14 KNOWN FATALITIES OCCURRED WITH THIS DEADLY TORNADO. THE TORNADO CONTINUED ACROSS THE COUNTY LINE NEAR HONTOON ISLAND...CROSSING INTO VOLUSIA COUNTY...AND STRIKING DELAND AS A HIGH END EF-2 TORNADO WITH WINDS OF 130 TO 135 MPH AS REPORTED BY THE VOLUSIA COUNTY TEAM. IT WAS ONE-EIGHTH MILE WIDE AND LIFTED EAST OF INTERSTATE 4 NEAR THE VOLUSIA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS. THE PATH LENGTH WAS APPROXIMATELY 22 MILES. THE TORNADO STRUCK LAKE MACK AT 348 AM AND DELAND AT 402 AM.

THE NEW SMYRNA BEACH/PONCE INLET TORNADO...TORNADO NUMBER THREE... HAS BEEN INITIALLY RATED AS AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH WINDS OF 100 TO 105 MPH. THE TORNADO UPLIFTED ROOFS ON MANY STRUCTURES...CAUSING A SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF ROOFING MATERIAL... THIS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST EAST OF INTERSTATE 95 NORTH OF HIGHWAY 44 IN NEW SMYRNA BEACH AND MOVED THROUGH PONCE INLET. THE PATH LENGTH IS ABOUT 5 MILES. THE TORNADO STRUCK PONCE INLET AT 427 AM.

Continued thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the three tornadoes yesterday morning. God bless.

I have concluded lesson one regarding the enhanced fujita scale and am about to start lesson two. Hubby has agreed to teach me about building codes and structures in our area (it's what he does for a living... bonus), so that learned knowledge should help me in determining whether to use UB (upper bound), LB (lower bound) or EXP (expected) windspeeds rate for the determined degree of damage (DOD) to the damage indicator (DI) based on how well the structure was engineered. It really is a fascinating scale, and a much more detailed look at the true damage caused by a tornado. Already I have learned about hurricane clips on raftors, anchor bolted soul plates and that our shed will likely fly away in the event of an EF-0...

Thanks to Kelly G. for the link to some of the radar and photographs: Interesting Link to Storm Damage and Radar

~Dewdrop