Officials and witnesses have reported that a severe storm system that created tornadoes caused damage to houses and cars in an area near Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on Saturday. James Ippolito, the deputy fire chief in Palm Beach Gardens, stated that a man had become trapped between a boat and a concrete piling as a result of the storm and was transported to the hospital in stable condition.
The Palm Beach Gardens Police Department has asked people to avoid an area east of the Intracoastal Waterway due to storm damage and blocked roads. The village of North Palm Beach said on Twitter that no injuries had been reported, but police officers, fire rescue teams, and Public Works Department staff members were checking the area after a tornado touched down around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday.
Photos shared on Twitter showed the aftermath of the storm, including cars resting against each other, broken windows in a house, and downed trees. The National Weather Service in Miami confirmed that a tornado had hit near Palm Beach Gardens and that they were surveying the damage. The Storm Prediction Center had issued a tornado watch, indicating that conditions were favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms for much of Central Florida, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. The watch remained in effect until 10 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
Forecasters have said that the threat of severe weather will persist in the watch area and that there could be “a brief tornado or two, wind damage, and hail.” The reports on Saturday came after days of severe weather in parts of Florida, including three tornadoes hitting Hosford, about 30 miles west of Tallahassee, on Thursday and hail reported in Lynn Haven, approximately 50 miles southwest of Hosford.