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Killer tornado ravages Florida
02/02/2007 21:42 - (SA)
Florida - Storms blew through southeastern US, early on Friday, killing at least 14 people, flattening hundreds of homes and a church and lifting a tractor trailer into the air, said authorities.
At least one tornado touched down.
Lake County spokesperson Christopher Patton confirmed the 14 deaths, 11 in Paisley and three in Lady Lake, both towns in Lake County about 80km northwest of Orlando. No further details were available.
Governor 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.
Dozens of mobile homes near Lady Lake were destroyed by the storms that hit in the middle of the night. Some homes were tossed from their foundations, while others had their roofs ripped off.
Five car crashes
"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 storms moved across Sumter and Lake counties around 08:15, then moved to Volusia County, where 69 homes and a county medical clinic were damaged, said authorities.
At least five car crashes took place on one interstate, closing the highway for about three hours.
About 20 000 customers were without power across a wide swath of central Florida, said Progress Energy spokesperson Cherie Jacobs.
The state emergency operations centre was activated, said Mike Stone, spokesperson at the state's department of emergency management.
- AP
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