Damaging tornado reported in central Florida
Image credit: Lake County Sheriff's Office
A tornado reportedly touched down near the town of Mascotte in Lake County, central Florida early Thursday morning, January 24, 2019.
Lake County Sheriff's Office said at least one home was destroyed and several others were damaged after a what appears to be a tornado touched down in the area of Tuscanooga Road and Honeycut Road around 05:40 EST (09:40 UTC).
Fire Chief said one home and at least 8 other structures sustained minimum to moderate damage, including Tuscanooga Baptist Church and cemetery after at least one tree fell down.
**STORM DAMAGE** @LCSOAlerts reporting homes destroyed in Lake County, FL in the town of Mascotte from a storm that moved through this morning. The threat for tornadoes and severe weather continues across the Sunshine State this morning #flwx. pic.twitter.com/37xD4heNqc
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) January 24, 2019
Traffic Alert *** Be advise that there was a report of a tornado that touched down in the area of Tuscanooga Road and Honeycut Road in Mascotte . There are powerlines and trees down in the road. Please avoid this area and choose an alternate route.
— LCSO Alerts (@LCSOAlerts) January 24, 2019
Media Staging area will be at Tuscanooga Rd at Honeycutt Rd. There are some homes destroyed but no reported deaths at this time. pic.twitter.com/7S0igiWuMO
— LCSO Alerts (@LCSOAlerts) January 24, 2019
.@LCSOAlerts inmate work crews are cleaning up the #Tuscanooga Baptist Church cemetery, which was littered with storm debris after severe weather came through this morning. pic.twitter.com/xGh4swJQvB
— Lake County EM (@lakeemergency) January 24, 2019
Tuscanooga Baptist Church and cemetery damage pic.twitter.com/L8Rpm1SCD6
— Lake County EM (@lakeemergency) January 24, 2019
Emergency Management Director Tommy Carpenter just took off for an aerial assessment of the storm damage in @LCSOAlerts Eagle 1. #tuscanooga pic.twitter.com/C3czpiYfrj
— Lake County EM (@lakeemergency) January 24, 2019
NEW VIDEO: This video shows the damage left behind in Lake County this morning from what could have been a tornado. Stay safe everyone. #LakeCounty #StormDamage #Florida pic.twitter.com/USnWvLqDRs
— WPBF 25 News (@WPBF25News) January 24, 2019
Appears to have been a small #meteotsunami (https://t.co/wQp7ru4zza https://t.co/qs9nUmOeGM) w/the squall line earlier this morning on the west coast of the Florida peninsula (h/t @gdimeweather).. Here are plots of observations, and radar with obs site at the dot #flwx pic.twitter.com/EYvm3IW4Wy
— Stu Ostro (@StuOstro) January 24, 2019
MORE images of storm damage in Mascotte, Lake Co @MyNews13Weather @MyNews13 #flwx pic.twitter.com/zoWBYmwKVT
— Julie Gargotta (@juliegargotta) January 24, 2019
A line of #severe t-storms in central FL has already produced a gust to 65 mph at Sarasota. Potential for downed trees or tree limbs with this line through the morning. Interactive radar/warnings: https://t.co/qgZ9IyLXxS #flwx pic.twitter.com/NVbUKpXxew
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) January 24, 2019
**SEVERE THREAT** Storm damage reports coming in across the Sunshine State, with a lingering threat into early afternoon.
READ MORE -> https://t.co/HjAcBaVAOw #flwx pic.twitter.com/09zAt6YP4y
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) January 24, 2019
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado and severe thunderstorm advisories and warnings but the damage survey is still not over and this tornado is still unconfirmed.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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