Floridians! I hope everyone is safe after the tornadoes. Lady Lake,

[babylonsister]

Volusia County, Deland affected. The pics look horrific.

[Birthmark]

1. It does look bad.

I'm not far from DeLand. I'm watching the local TV coverage and taking stock of the places that are destroyed. It's definitely bad. I just hope that the loss of life is light. So far, two confirmed dead, but based on the pics I'm seeing, I'll be shocked if that doesn't rise.

[babylonsister]

4. My family lives in Deland; thankfully they are okay, but it looks

really devastated. I've never been in a tornado and that's one weather phenomena that really scares me. No advance warning, and I can't even imagine having one hit at night. :scared:

[Birthmark]

6. Glad to hear your family is okay.

And, yeah, tornadoes give me the screamin' heebie-jeebies, too. At least the strong ones do. The little ones don't bother me at all.

[malaise]

11. They're not sure it was a tornado

so I heard on CNN. Couldn't be a hurricane this early could it?

Glad your folks are OK.

[babylonsister]

12. Really? You get advance notice w/a hurricane. nt

[malaise]

17. CNN said they're waiting for confirmation

Don't know why! Devastating indeed.

[Arkansas Granny]

22. In our area, the National Weather Service sends out a crew to

determine if the damage is actually caused by a tornado or strong, straight line winds. They also collect data to determine the force of the storm.

[malaise]

2. Damn

This is serious. Two killed so far.

[mcar]

3. It was quite a storm

I'm about 40 miles north of Deland. We didn't get tornadoes but the wind and rain were fierce. It woke my 9 YO up at about 3 AM and he wondered if it was a hurricane.

I hope all our DUers in the affected areas fared well.

[trumad]

5. Woke me up this morning ---

I live in Oviedo--- about 20 miles away from the serious stuff.

Quite a storm.

[Jeanette in FL]

16. I'm in Putnam County, was a wild night

It came through our area last night around 10-11pm. I was shocked at the lightning and thunder for this time of year. We got almost 2 inches of rain during that time.

But there still wasn't any talk of tornadoes at that time, just severe thunderstorms. I can't believe what DeLand looks like. Devestating.

I saw where there were tractor trailors blown over on I-4. That road is a mess on normal days, I can't even imagine what it is like today.

[originalpckelly]

7. I know, it's so sad to see the destruction...

I'm watching CNN. Poor dear people, I hope all the DUers in Florida are OK.

[Lowell]

8. Strong winds and storm along Gulf Coast

also. The winds and lightening this morning around 5 am shook the whole house. I am surprised that there wasn't a lot more damage. I guess mobile home parks are just tornado magnets down here.

[malaise]

9. Don't see any mobile homes in this neighbourhood

Looks like an upscale neighbourhood.

[Swamp Rat]

10. Me too!

:grouphug:

[Ghost in the Machine]

13. just talked to my sister in Ocklawaha... it missed them thankfully

waiting to hear back from my aunt and uncle... they are down there about 20 miles outside Ocklawaha (Lake City?) in a motor home.

Good thoughts and good vibes sent out to all

PEACE!

Ghost

[babylonsister]

28. Let us know when you hear from your relatives, GitM. Those

motor homes got hit pretty hard from what I hear.

[Ghost in the Machine]

29. just heard from them. They are safe too....

They are in Umatilla(sp?), not far from Paisley(sp?), which I have heard was one of the hardest hit areas.

{{moment of silence for the victims that weren't so fortunate}}



Ghost

[babylonsister]

31. Good news for you! Thanks. nt

[babylonsister]

14. MSNBC update just said 14 dead so far.

:-(

[malaise]

15. Just saw that

Damn.

[Jeanette in FL]

18. I'm afraid it is only going to go higher

This coming through in the wee hours of the morning. No one had been alerted earlier in the evening that this could be a possibility of tornadoes. When they did give the watches and warning, most people were sleeping.

[malaise]

30. I fear you are correct

How close is this to UF?

[bdamomma]

19. just a question, were people warned first?

just asking. I hope people in that area are ok.

[babylonsister]

20. Most were sleeping; happened in the dead of night. nt

[bdamomma]

21. oh that's terrible.

[bluedog]

23. St. Pete here

Seeing that we are getting more and more tornados.....maybe We should get our elected officials to put "sirens " at local buildings......the mid-west has alarms when a tornado is coming.........it might not be a 100% guarentee......but.it may save some lives............the public does not stay up all night and watch tv to get these news alerts............stick the sirens on churches fire stations.etc.

Couldn't hurt to write to Crist.....

[MANative]

24. My SIL's parents and brother live in Lady Lake...

they had many windows blown out, and are fine, but neighbor's house is completely gone. Neighbor is shaken, but okay. It happened around 3AM - woke everybody up out of sound sleep. Very scary.

[babylonsister]

25. I'm glad everyone's okay, MANative.

I can't imagine waking up and finding the neighbor's home gone!

[MANative]

26. Thanks, Babylonsister- we were pretty worried,

as my SIL's brother is disabled and has cognitive difficulties. It will be really difficult for him to deal with this. :(

[borlis]

27. I've got a good friend in Apopka....I left her a message..

she didn't return my call yet. I hope they are OK. I read a report that 14 people died.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

32. That area is storm central. They said the only area worse is in Rwanda.

That's the storm belt - it goes across the state. We're quite a bit southwest and we don't get too many tornados - too close to the Gulf.