Tornado flips cars, downs trees after touching down in South Florida

A burst of severe weather brought thunderstorms, hail as large as golf balls and at least one confirmed tornado to parts of Florida on Saturday, officials and residents said. The twister touched down in Palm Beach Gardens, a South Florida city about 75 miles north of Miami, in the late afternoon, flipping cars, flattening trees and downing power lines throughout the area.

Although fire officials said no injuries were reported in Palm Beach Gardens as a result of the tornado, they did assist with hospital transports in other areas. 

The city wrote in a Facebook post that “multiple roadways were blocked with debris and downed trees” on Saturday night, noting reports of “roof damage, minor structural damage to buildings, a lot of trees down and a lot of vehicle damage.” The city also shared images of the tornado’s aftermath. One showed a car pileup in a parking lot while another two showed large trees and a light post turned horizontal on the ground — in one instance scattered across several lanes of a major highway.

The National Weather Service in Miami confirmed the system that tore through communities in and around Palm Beach Gardens on Saturday was a tornado traveling “at least” 100 mph, and said they were in the process of surveying damage along its path in the first of multiple storm updates shared on social media Saturday evening. 

The agency’s Storm Prediction Center earlier Saturday had issued a tornado watch for a vast stretch of Central Florida, which meant weather conditions were conducive to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes and which remained in effect through 10 p.m.

Blocked lanes caused multiple road closures. Less than an hour before the tornado hit Palm Beach Gardens, the police department issued a warning that advised people to avoid an area east of the Intracoastal Waterway, citing storm damage. 

“At this time, roads are blocked at PGA Blvd and US 1. Please select an alternate route,” the department wrote on Twitter.

Around the same time, the village of North Palm Peach said in a separate tweet that local police, fire officials and public works staff were “checking the area near the Community Center on Prosperity Farms Road after a tornado touched down around 5:45 p.m.” The village had not recorded any injuries in connection with the twister but asked the public to “limit outside activity and to be alert for power lines or other dangers.”

Tornado warnings remained active in a number of Florida counties on Sunday.