INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — The National Weather Service has confirmed that a brief EF0 tornado hit Indian River County on Monday night.
The storm struck the Midway Estates mobile home community in Florida Ridge just after 6:30 p.m., damaging multiple homes.
Officials said the tornado continued to the east-southeast for about four minutes along a half-mile-long track until it dissipated as it crossed into the Vero Shores residential community,
The tornado had a maximum width of about 100 yards and peak winds estimated between 75-85 mph, the National Weather Service said.
"Two minutes after I heard the TV give us a warning that it was coming, I said, 'John, we gotta get in the bathroom,'" Dianne James, a resident of Midway Estates said. "And because there are no basements, you're just trying to figure out where you can go, and I always heard to go to the center part of your trailer, and that's where we laid and sat down in the bathroom and just listened to it and didn't know till it left."
Cleanup crews got to work right away Tuesday. Siding from homes was wrapped around trees and hurled into nearby woods.
Indian River County Emergency Management documented 16 homes with at least some damage, with more substantial damage noted toward the southeast corner of the community.
The NWS report said most of these homes suffered at least some damage to their metal roofs, awnings, siding and skirting.
Several carports and porch awnings were torn away from homes and lofted into neighboring yards. A portion of one home's roof was lost into the neighboring woods.
As a lifelong Florida resident, Wayne Mann has been through his share of storms. He recognized the sounds of trouble when the storm approached and knew he needed to act fast.
"My roof started coming apart," Mann said. "The whole trailer started shaking really bad and violent. It was pretty bad."
Emergency officials in Indian River County said no one was hurt, but one family was displaced by the storm.
Many residents at Midway Estates only live there seasonally, so the neighborhood was not at full capacity when the tornado struck.
"We asked the residents whether or not they received a warning, and we're happy to say that the residents have reported that they received an approximately two-minute warning," Ryan Lloyd, Indian River County Emergency Management coordinator, said.
As Mann assesses his damage, neighbors were busy Tuesday helping neighbors, putting the community back together.
If anyone needs assistance from the county, they can call 772-226-3900.
