[tortugaranger]

We just had a rare winter tornado come through our neighborhood. It looked like just another south Florida storm on the weather radar but this storm cell spawned a twister that ripped through our area and did a fair bit of damage.

I got off easy with only one tree destroyed. It was a glorious Chinese Orchid Tree that sits right out front of my house. It split the trunk down the middle almost to the ground. The amount of energy needed to split thick green wood like that is mind boggling.

Nothing else was touched near me. A few blocks away the damage was quite extensive including flipped cars and boats and parts of roofs removed.

 
 

[JLM]

Yep, I've seen a tornado run a piece of straw through a tree trunk and a rope through a wooden fence post.  My uncle had a tornado skip over his house and wipe out a chicken coup 50 feet away.  Neighbors had 5 houses in a row cleared down to the slab foundations, one of those guys woke up from a nap and found himself 3/4 of a mile down the road, still in bed with the bed on his roof.  His paycheck that he'd left on the dresser was recovered 150 miles away.

Good thing we don't live in tornado alley.   

[Bill Baker]

Glad to hear no serious damage. Mother nature hasn't been too kind to me and I know what it's like to deal with natural disasters. No major damage...nobody hurt. That's all that matters.