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FORT LAUDERDALE — A tornado touched down in Downtown Fort Lauderdale on Saturday evening, shortly after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area.
There were no immediate reports of injuries and only scattered power outages were reported from the twister, which was captured by many residents and posted to social media accounts. Several videos were shared on X, showing a funnel cloud forming above downtown Fort Lauderdale and making a touchdown in the area. Some of the videos found also showed the funnel cloud causing some sort of explosion as it spun.
On Sunday, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Miami sent a team to the area to survey the impacted areas in which the tornado blew through, examining the damage and interviewing impacted residents.
According to NWS Senior Meteorologist Robert Garcia, the tornado touched down north of the Lauderdale Yacht Club around 5:47 p.m. before heading north-eastward towards State Road A1A, impacting the Rio Vista and Las Olas Isles neighborhoods. It then dissipated when it reached the Intracoastal Waterway around 5:50 p.m. CBS News Miami’s NEXT Weather radar picked up on wind rotation around 5:45 p.m. when the severe weather blew through the area.
The tornado traveled along a 1.5-mile path with a max width of 100 yards and a max wind speed of 80 mph. According to Garcia, that would’ve made the tornado an EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale — the measurement system that meteorologists use to give tornadoes “ratings” based on estimated wind speeds and related damage, with EF-5 being the strongest.
As the tornado gained strength, it made contact with some structures, power lines and marine vessels in the immediate area, Fort Lauderdale Police told CBS News Miami. The first signs of damage were along Southeast 12th Street, where large branches were down in front of a home, the NWS Miami report stated.
“The house started shaking, and the doors started shaking and then the wind really picked up,” said Jody Lewis whose home was damaged.
Tornado from Ft Luaderdale @NWSMiami pic.twitter.com/kH80npwNTR
— Ben Yanowitz (@Yano729) January 6, 2024
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue then responded to calls of a damaged vessel at 1 Las Olas Circle and a damaged home at 1733 SE 10th Street. One fireboat and land-based units checked the vessels within the Las Olas basin and discovered that no people were injured, and nobody was in distress. However, the land units found roof damage at a nearby home. Property and vessel damage have not displaced any people at this time, FLPD told CBS News Miami.
The City of Fort Lauderdale stated X (formerly known as Twitter), saying there have been no reports of injuries so far and FLFR crews are assessing the damage, which appears to be minor at this time…
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