Pinellas residents left with major damages after tornado swept through county
CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. - Some Pinellas County residents have repairs and cleanup to deal with after a tornado swept through the area overnight Thursday.
Cleanup crews cut broken trees and tossed debris in the Carlouel neighborhood in Clearwater Beach Thursday.
"We’ve dealt with some flooding from the hurricane. But as far as some wind danger goes and structural damage, it’s crazy how it is right now," said Cory Jursik, who lives in the Carlouel neighborhood.
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The National Weather Service said a waterspout moved onto land and became an EF-1 tornado, ripping through Eldorado Avenue. Jursik said he actually saw it because he was already awake.
This map shows the path of the waterspout/tornado as it moved through Pinellas County (Photo courtesy: Pinellas County)
"I go to the front door, and I look out, and the lightning was lighting up the sky," said Jursik. "I literally watched a tornado, came right through the front of the house. You can kind of see the path all the way up here."
His house was spared, but others did not escape damage after 110 mile an hour winds tore through walls and roofs. The Carlouel Yacht Club also had some damage.
"That was one of the first places I walked last night. Obviously, [there’s] a lot of debris, trees. The roof’s fine. There were some windows that had been blown out. The furniture’s kind of all over the place," said Jursik.
First responders in Clearwater say the tornado damaged at least two homes on Eldorado Avenue on Clearwater Beach early Thursday morning. They say no injuries have been reported, but one woman was evacuated after the second story of her home began to cave in.
Pinellas County officials said the tornado then swept through the Dunedin Causeway and up toward East Lake. The NWS estimated that the tornado was an EF-1 when it came ashore and then eventually became an EF-2.
A Baywood Shores neighbor was shocked by the damage.
"Our neighbor, his car got picked up and turned, flipped over and bent the frame and cracked the windshield. He said it was 10 seconds, 10 of the scariest seconds of his life," said John Beebe, a Baywood Shores resident in Dunedin.
Photo courtesy: Clearwater Fire & Rescue
Storefronts in the Causeway Plaza boarded up damaged windows, leaving piles of debris in the parking lot. Utility companies also worked to restore power to thousands of customers.
After seeing the aftermath, neighbors are thankful alerts warned them what was coming.
"Turn them all on, leave them all on. That woke me up. Had I not heard that I wouldn’t have known what was going on," said Beebe.
Pinellas County officials said residents and businesses with damage should go to disaster.pinellas.gov to fill out a damage assessment report and talk to their insurance companies.