Severe thunderstorms, possible tornadoes sweep across North Florida, knocking out power, here's where
A line of severe thunderstorms tore across North Florida Friday morning, knocking down trees, tearing up buildings, and at one point leaving over 200,000 households without power.
Tallahassee officials told students to stay home from school until the storm threat has passed. Nearly 80,000 power outages were reported in Leon County as of 10:30 a.m. and reports have been made of severe damage at Florida State University and Tallahassee Railroad Square from possible tornado activity. Dick Howser Stadium at FSU, the home of FSU baseball, sustained damage, officials said.
With possible tornadic activity in Tallahassee, early assessments of the electric grid show severe damage to transmission lines, impacting 11 substations. Restoration will possibly take through the weekend. Mutual aid has been requested. Over 66,000 customers are without service. pic.twitter.com/2AxenyHXNv
— City of Tallahassee (@CityofTLH) May 10, 2024
Tornadoes have not yet been verified to account for the Tallahassee destruction. "We've gotten a lot of damage reports in the #Tallahassee area," the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said in a message posted to X. "It is too soon to determine whether winds or a tornado are responsible. There should be more clarity as the day progresses, but for now we still have to focus on active weather."
In the western Panhandle, 21.000 households were without power and up to 30 homes in Santa Rosa County were reported damaged in preliminary reports.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 11 a.m. EDT for Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Walton and Washington counties in the Panhandle and Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla in the Big Bend.
Friday's storm damage: Videos, photos posted on social media show damage after reported tornado in Tallahassee
Severe thunderstorms in North Florida
Florida Power outages in Tallahassee and the Panhandle
More than 200,000 power outages were reported across Florida Friday morning as severe thunderstorms swept across the northern part of the state.
Weather alerts issued in Florida
Weather radar and forecast for Pensacola
Weather radar and forecast for Tallahassee
Weather radar and forecast for Jacksonville
Contributing: Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY Network-Florida
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Tornado warnings, rough weather whip across North Florida, Tallahassee
