A tornado caused due to Hurricane Milton has left seven people injured and caused extensive damage in Florida‘s Palm Beach County, according to a survey released by the National Weather Service (NWS) on Friday. The tornado struck on Wednesday, with a path that lasted 30 minutes, as reported by WPLG.
The tornado began at 4.51 pm in Wellington, destroying a double-wide mobile home on Deer Path Lane in the Rustic Ranches area.It then moved through the Lakefield West, Meadowwood, and Binks Forest communities, damaging homes and uprooting trees.
“The scariest thing I have ever been through,” Kristen Boyd, a resident of Wellington, told Local 10 News.
The tornado continued across Southern Boulevard and into Loxahatchee Groves and The Acreage, intensifying as it approached Northlake Boulevard. The NWS reported that the worst damage occurred in the Avenir community of Palm Beach Gardens, where it shattered strong windows, caused part of a Publix supermarket roof to collapse, and moved vehicles over 100 yards.
“All of the roof tiles were flying like bullets,” said Bobby Jagoo, a nearby resident.
With peak winds estimated at 140 mph, the tornado had a path length of 21 miles and a width of 300 yards. The NWS classified it as a strong EF-3 tornado on the enhanced Fujita scale. The Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management and local law enforcement agencies assisted in the survey.