Fishing boat captain captures in dramatic video what appears to be a tornado
EDGEWATER -- County officials stopped short of calling it a tornado in favor of "significant wind event" that damaged at least 30 homes, a third of them sustaining moderate to heavy damage, early this evening in the Terra Mar subdivision off US. 1 just south of the Edgewater city limits.
Asked if it was a tornado, Volusia County spokeswoman Pat Kuehn, who was on scene, told Headline Surfer officials would wait from a report likely Tuesday from the National Weather Service.
"For now, we're calling it a significant wind event," Kuehn said, quickly adding, "I know it sounds silly -- it's a firefighter term to call it something until we're certain."
The important thing, she said, was that nobody was injured beyond a few reports of scratches from falling debris with some roofs torn off of the manufactured homes in the area of Cypress and Pine streets east of the U.S, 1 corridor.
The initial 9-1-1 call about the possible tornado came into the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office’s Communications Center from a resident at 5:30 p.m., agency spokesman Gary Davidson said.
Early reports from the community include numerous roofs blown off residences, trees and power lines down and debris along roadways. The community clubhouse also was damaged, and power was out in the neighborhood.One resident said the fast moving storm had all the makings of a tornado, with the "train horn sound."
Sheriff’s deputies were assisting fire officials from Volusia County, Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach with search and rescue efforts, as they went "house-to-house" checking for any injured or trapped residents, Davidson said. Access to much of the community had been blocked off as a precaution until about 8:30 p.m.
There also are reports of numerous trees down and two homes damaged at the nearby Jones Fish Camp, but no injuries, the Sheriff's spokesman said.
Other calls received in Volusia County during today’s storm event included a handful of reports of trees and power lines down, blown transformers on East Hancock Drive in Deltona and on West International Speedway Boulevard/Fentress Boulevard in Daytona Beach.
There were traffic lights out on North Stone Street/West International Speedway Boulevard in DeLand and North US Highway 1 and Wilmette Avenue in Ormond Beach.