Central Florida Disaster-14 killed in 2/2/07 early AM tornado.

[countrymama5]

 

Gov. Charlie Crist declares a state of emergency for affected countiesLADY LAKE, Fla. - Storms blew through central Florida early Friday, killing at least 14 people, flattening dozens of homes and a church and lifting a tractor trailer into the air, authorities said.

At least one tornado touched down.

Lake County spokesman Christopher Patton confirmed the 14 deaths, 11 in Paisley and three in Lady Lake, both towns in Lake County about 50 miles northwest of Orlando. No further details were available.

Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency for Volusia, Sumter, Lake and Seminole counties.

"Our priority today is search and rescue," Crist told reporters in Tallahassee.

Killer tornadoes
Dozens of mobile homes near Lady Lake were destroyed by the storms that hit in the middle of the night. Chairs, beds and clothes were strewn about yards, with debris hanging from trees. Some homes were tossed from their foundations, while others had their roofs ripped off.

"The most dangerous tornado scenario is a threat for killer tornadoes at night, and that was the case," said Dave Sharp, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Melbourne.

The Lady Lake Church of God was demolished, its pews, altar and Bibles left in a jumbled mess. The 31-year-old, steel-reinforced structure was built to withstand 150-mph winds, the Rev. Larry Lynn said.

By daybreak, parishioners gathered amid the ruins, hugging each other and consoling Lynn. They planned to clear the debris and hold Sunday services on the empty lot.

"That's just the building. The people are the church. We'll be back bigger and stronger," Lynn said.

The town of Lady Lake in a "state of emergency," according to Ed Nathanson, the Lady Lake Chief of Police. The storm went through so many mobile homes that it "looks like a war zone, it's been totally devastated," Nathanson said.

The storms moved across Sumter and Lake counties around 3:15 a.m., then moved to Volusia County, where 69 homes and a county medical clinic were damaged, authorities said.

"We're in the process of getting our arms around the damage," county spokesman Dave Byron said.

In The Villages retirement community, Lee Shaver said he shielded his wife Irene with his body while huddling in a closet as the roof peeled off their home. Fence posts launched as projectiles were embedded into the wall of their home, Irene Shaver said.

"Every muscle and bone in my body shook," said Lee Shaver, 54. "We don't know what to do. We have no cell phones, wallets, IDs."

Wide swath without power
At least five crashes took place within a quarter mile of each other near Interstate 4's New Smyrna Beach exit, closing the highway for about three hours.

In one case, a semitrailer was lifted up and landed on another semi, pinning the driver in his cab, said Kim Miller, a spokeswoman with the Florida Highway Patrol. The driver did not suffer life-threatening injuries, she said.

About 20,000 customers were without power across a wide swath of central Florida, Progress Energy spokeswoman Cherie Jacobs said.

The state Emergency Operations Center was activated, said Mike Stone, spokesman at the state's Department of Emergency Management

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Fourteen people were killed and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed when tornadoes ripped through central Florida on Friday, an official said.

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes struck a wide area north of Florida's key tourism region of Orlando, reducing homes to rubble and splintered wood. Search and rescue teams fanned out to search for survivors and victims.

"I have 14," Christopher Patton, spokesman for the Lake County emergency operations center, told Reuters, citing reports of fatalities from the county medical examiner's office. "I can confirm that number."

Patton said three people were killed in Lady Lake, about 40 miles northwest of Orlando, and 11 died in nearby Paisley, on the edge of the Ocala National Forest.

"We have complete devastation of homes, of businesses, religious institutions," Patton said earlier on CNN. "It was unlike even perhaps the hurricanes of 2004 when we had minor roof damage, screen damage, pool damage. This is way far more devastating."

Up to 100 homes were damaged in Sumter County but officials there said there were no reports of deaths.

Television video showed homes reduced to rubble and residents belongings strewn across neighborhoods.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist postponed the scheduled presentation of his first budget because of the weather emergency.

Walt Disney Co.'s Disney World, just south of Orlando, was not affected, a spokeswoman said.

Tags: disasters, tornadoes, weather

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[jazzesmom]

Feb. 2, 2007 at 12:40 PM This was a terrible storm system.  We were lucky that it missed us, but keep those affected in our prayers.