PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Residents in a Palm Beach Gardens community are cleaning days after an EF3 tornado tore through their community, ripping off roofs on brand new, well-built homes and causing structural damage.
The tornado with 140 mph winds caused people's roofs to litter roadways.
WPTV reporter T.A. Walker saw residents who live in La Terre at Avenir with blue tarps on their homes Friday. There were also homes with the whole roof exposed, shingles ripped off the rooftop.
Federal Emergency Management Agency met with homeowners at the Sandhill Crane clubhouse in Palm Beach Gardens at around 10 a.m. Friday.
Workers were seen working on homes trying to repair roof damage.
Over in the new 55+ community called Regency at Avenir in Palm Beach Gardens, 140 mph winds lifted a construction dumpster up in the air and it landed on someone's home.
A WPTV viewer, Shaundra Gallogly, emailed us and said this was her mom's house and she's OK but the damage was significant, after the intensity of those winds plopped the heavy dumpster onto the home.
Security camera footage WPTV collected showed a screen ripped open, debris flying around and plants waving back and forth.
WPTV First Alert Weather Chief Meteorologist Steve Weagle talked to the National Weather Service and they said for our area, they've never seen anything like it personally.
"Have you ever seen damage like this in a tornado?" asked Weagle.
"In my experience, I've never surveyed a tornado with this much damage and the severity of the damage. For South Florida, EF3s are very rare," said Robert Molleda. "It's probably been many years since we've had an A-rated EF3 tornado here in South Florida."
WATCH: Interview with NWS meteorologist Robert Molleda
WPTV spoke with a homeowner in Palm Beach Gardens Friday morning, who said she hunkered down with her nearly 1-year-old and a dog in their closet.
"So, the baby was amused, but the situation was intense. I didn't even get an alert on my phone, but a bunch of neighbors texted and kind of said, 'Hey, it's coming from Publix,' like this is real," she said. "So, we went in the closet under our stairs and that's where we kind of rode it out with the dog and the baby."
