VERO BEACH, Fla. — Like many areas on the Treasure Coast, Vero Beach experienced a tornado Wednesday.
WPTV's Jamie Ostroff and Brooke Chau have been in Vero Beach, assessing the damage from the tornadoes. Ostroff said there's big damage along 15th Avenue, a residential neighborhood. There have been no reports of injury.
She also spoke with people who were sheltering when the tornado hit.
"Right when I moved into the back room, that's when it picked up even more. Everything was making loud bangs and stuff. It sounded like a car crash," said Tony Hernandez.
"This whole garage is missing, this fence is missing, all of up there — that whole tree is gone," he added. "That's missing. There's a roof down there somewhere hanging on the powerline. I was just surprised."
"I think the biggest weight is knowing that it's not over. This is just the first portion of it. It hasn't even hit the other coast yet," said Stephen Perry.
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Chau spoke with Vista Royale resident James Libertelli who said he was still waiting to hear from friends on Thursday.
"Sadness, I'm still waiting to hear from friends that haven't reported in this morning," he said. "Looking on Facebook to see if everyone is OK, calling people, not getting responses, just worried."
Libertelli moved to Vero Beach from St. Petersburg and said the tornado that came through Vero Beach was a harrowing experience.
"It's destruction and just horror," he said. "You don't expect the tornado to pass right in front, the train, crashing noise, the wind being sucked right out of your ears."
Libertelli said he is thankful the community he lives in has procedures in place for repairs and cleanup.
"The tree company should be here today," he said, "and the roofing company should be here tomorrow to put temporary roofs on everybody's house."
