A tornado has torn through central Florida, destroying homes and sending broadcasters ducking for cover live on air. And experts have warned more tornadoes may hit the southwest in the coming days, with severe storms forecast.
The twister hit Seminole County in the Orlando metropolitan region on Monday (March 10) with peak wind speeds of up to 115 mph (185 km/h), weather website AccuWeather reported.
The tornado raced over a distance of around 4 miles (6 kilometers) in 15 minutes, destroying two homes, uprooting trees and damaging vehicles. There weren’t any serious injuries reported as a result of the tornado, according to FOX 35 Orlando.
FOX 35 Orlando staff confirmed the tornado’s location live on air when it hit their studio. Brooks Garner, a meteorologist at the TV station, was tracking the storm when a camera showed a gray mass of wind and rain approaching the FOX building.
“Take shelter!” Garner said as the tornado hit. “Everybody in the FOX 35 building, get to your safe space, under your desk if you’re not in a designated area. We’re catching debris right now on the roof.”
FOX 35 Orlando staff said they felt the building shake and heard debris hit the roof as the tornado passed over them, FOX Weather reported. Nobody in the building was hurt, according to the report.
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Tornadoes are narrow, rapidly rotating columns of air that stretch from clouds down to the ground during a thunderstorm. They are among the most violent storms on Earth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Scientists categorize a tornado’s strength using the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale), which ranges from EF0 to EF5. The Florida tornado was EF2, meaning winds of 111 to 135 mph (179 to 217 km/h). For context, the most powerful EF5 tornadoes have winds of more than 200 mph (322 km/h). The last twister to reach EF5 was the 2013 Moore tornado, which killed 24 people and devastated the city of Moore in Oklahoma.
More tornadoes could hit the central and southeastern U.S. later this week. A powerful storm is expected to sweep across the country from west to east, with a risk of severe thunderstorms that could spawn tornadoes in 12 states, including Florida, on Friday and Saturday (March 14 to 15), according to a statement released by AccuWeather.
“All of the ingredients are coming together for a significant severe weather outbreak,” Bernie Rayno, chief on-air meteorologist at AccuWeather, said in the statement. “We could end up with two dozen tornadoes or more by the end of the weekend.”
