The National Weather Service in Miami has confirmed TWO tornadoes in Southwest Florida, including the strongest tornado to ever hit Glades county.
An EF-3 tornado carved a 9 mile path of destruction starting north of Moore Haven, ending in Brighton Seminole Village, growing as wide as two football fields. 140 mph winds ripped apart the Sarasota Colony neighborhood of Lakeport. Three residents were injured while taking shelter in their homes on Wednesday around 2:35pm. Dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed.
The National Weather Service in Miami confirmed another, long-track tornado struck eastern Collier, Hendry and Glades county.
Fox 4 captured the EF-1 from our FDOT cameras just southwest of the Miccosukee Rest Area at exit 49 along I-75 near the Collier-Broward County line Wednesday morning. This long track tornado stayed on the ground for 71 miles, and grew as wide as three football fields.
It crossed through the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, through rural eastern Hendry County and into the City of Clewiston, moving through the Sky Valley neighborhood. The tornadic supercell then tracked to western Lake Okeechobee, entering the Miller Drive/Friendship Drive neighborhood where it damaged several homes before heading down Click Drive, damaging several more homes with estimated 110 mph winds. Incredibly, no injuries were reported.
The full report can be read HERE.
NWS Miami covers Glades, Hendry and Collier counties, while the NWS Tampa office covers Lee, Charlotte, DeSoto and counties northward. The National Weather Service in Tampa says they’ll be surveying potential tornado damage in Lee and Charlotte counties in the days and weeks to come.
