Latest news with #EF-1
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
NWS confirms EF-1 tornado touched in Largo Wednesday
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The National Weather Service completed a public information statement regarding a tornado that struck down in Pinellas County Wednesday evening. Meteorologist Tony Hurt reported that the event registered a one on the enhanced Fujita Scale, or EF scale. This scale is used to survey tornadoes by assigning a rating based on estimated wind speeds and related damage caused. Largo residents deal with aftermath of EF-1 tornado Additionally, yesterday's tornado reached maximum wind speeds of 90 miles per hour, and it traveled 100 yards in width, forging a 2.11 mile path. Hurt described the damage sustained along its path as 'intermittent', noting that no injuries were reported. The tornado began 3 miles southeast of Largo at 7:02 ended 2 miles east southeast of Largo at 7:10 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
‘It's all gone': Largo residents cleaning up after tornado rips through neighborhoods
LARGO, Fla. (WFLA) — Claudia Hobbs heard the thunder and went outside to roll up the windows on her car. She lives in Pinebrook Estates in Largo. 'I noticed it sounded like there was a plane,' Hobbs said. About five minutes north in Ranchero Village, Linda McGee had just finished dinner. Largo residents deal with aftermath of EF-1 tornado 'It really started to move like someone was shaking a rag doll,' McGee said. Both women were in the path of an EF-1 tornado. The National Weather Service said it reached wind speeds of 90 mph and lasted about 8 minutes. It felt a bit longer to Hobbs. 'Probably for 10-15 minutes things were just scary,' Hobbs said. As the tornado moved north, it lifted a home off its foundation. But before that, one street over, the storm snatched the roof off McGee's house. It put the carport on top of her car. It also peeled off her lanai. McGee said she was inside the whole time, hiding in the bathroom. 'We just wanted to live through,' McGee said. They started cleaning up Thursday, and options are limited for McGee. 'It's all gone,' McGee said. 'We don't know.' As neighbors helped remove a tree off the top of Hobbs' patio, and tarps covered the roofs of other homes in the neighborhood, she said this storm put things in perspective. 'We had two hurricanes in a row last year; we didn't lose that many limbs. No, this is probably the worst that we've had, a tornado,' Hobbs said. 'It makes you think and realize where we live and we have to be prepared.' Largo Fire Rescue said 40 to 50 homes in Ranchero Village had damage ranging from minor to severe. Anyone needing assistance can call the American Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
‘Never got it': Why didn't an alert go out before tornado touched down in Largo?
LARGO, Fla. (WFLA) — The National Weather Service said an EF-1 tornado touched down in Largo Wednesday. 'I have no idea whose house is blue and white,' Susan Haas said, pointing to a roof lying in her backyard. 'It's all gone': Largo residents cleaning up after tornado rips through neighborhoods Haas was in her home in the Bay Ranch Mobile Home Park Wednesday when, suddenly, her dog, Ollie, began violently shaking. She knew something was wrong. 'I looked outside, [and] I saw debris flying through the air,' Haas said. 'My daughter kind of freaked out.' 'I grabbed her and covered her with my body,' she continued. 'Everything kept flying by, there was nothing we could do, it was just too late.' The national weather service said, it was an EF-1 tornado with 90 mph wind speeds. While many Largo residents said it felt like forever, Science and Operations Officer Matt Anderson said the tornado touched down for six to seven minutes and tracked for just over two miles. 'A lot of times, these boundary collisions really don't mean too much, not too much develops,' he explained. 'In this case, there must have been some additional low-level spin in the atmosphere that the boundaries were able to stretch and develop into a tornado.' Haas and many of her neighbors asked the same question Thursday: Why weren't they alerted? 'Never got it on the phone,' Haas said. 'It was just that fast.' Anderson agreed, saying by the time they saw it on radar, it was too late. 'The radar didn't pick it up just because the circulation was incredibly shallow,' he explained. 'We were able to pick up the rotation on the radar located at MacDill Airforce Base, but by the time we saw that circulation, it was already gone.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
24-06-2025
- Climate
- New York Post
Freak NY storm that killed 6-year-old twins in their beds also left local woman dead in eerily similar tragedy: officials
A freak upstate New York storm that killed 6-year-old twins in their beds on Sunday also left a 50-year-old woman dead just 5 miles away, according to local authorities. Shelly Johnson was inside her Kirkland home when a tree fell into her home, killing her while she slept next to her longtime partner, the Oneida County Sheriff's Office said in a release. Johnson's tragic death came early Sunday morning, when an EF-1 tornado swept through the upstate community and toppled a tree onto the nearby home where little Emily and Kenni Bisson were asleep, killing the twins and forcing their mother to escape through a shattered window. Advertisement 3 A pair of 6-year-old twin sisters were killed early Sunday when a tree smashed into their upstate home in a freak storm. AP Johnson and her longtime partner, Eddie Hickey, were in bed discussing whether to evacuate in the deadly tornado when a tree came crashing into their mobile home, reported. The pair, although not married, had known each other since grade school. Advertisement 'They were best friends, on top of being together,' Tammy Worden, Hickey's sister-in-law, told the outlet. Friends and relatives have now set up a GoFundMe page for Hickey. 3 Mom Kayleigh Bisson escaped the upstate tornado, but her 6-year-old twins, Emily and Kenni, were killed. GoFundMe 'For those that don't know who Shelly was, she was kind, caring, loving, gentle, funny, an avid animal lover, and best friend,' his niece, Shana Schaffer, wrote on the site. 'Unfortunately, not only did my uncle lose his best friend/love of his life of 25 years, he also lost his home and belongings.' Advertisement The deadly storm prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency in 32 counties due to the intense weather and the heat wave that is enveloping the Empire State. The sudden surge struck the home of the Bisson twins around 4 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. Their mother, Kayleigh Bisson, 37, was sleeping with her daughters when disaster struck — with neighbors hearing her screams and dashing to the battered home to help. 3 The freak storm killed at least three people in the upstate town of Kirkland early Sunday morning, officials said. AP Advertisement 'She was yelling, 'Get my kids out!'' neighbor Jared Bowman told 'But there was no noise. It felt very eerie and bad.' Both girls were found inside and declared dead at the scene, the sheriff's office said. 'These girls were known throughout town,' a GoFundMe account set up for the twins said. 'They were a part of softball, soccer, dance, gymnastics and so much more. 'They always kept everyone smiling and made people remember what life was all about,' the site said. 'They walked through life smiling, dancing, and belly laughs that lasted for days. They were incredible artists that had [a talent] for a paintbrush and some chalk.' Additional reporting by Richard Pollina
San Francisco Chronicle
23-06-2025
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
Weekend tornadoes kill 6 in North Dakota and New York, toss trees and train cars
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two tornadoes that killed six people in North Dakota and New York each had wind speeds topping 100 mph and caused brief but widespread damage as they tore through largely rural areas, officials said. Three people, all in their 70s and 80s, died in rural Enderlin, North Dakota, during a storm that struck late Friday and early Saturday, the Cass County Sheriff's Office said. Three others, including twin 6-year-old sisters, died Sunday in a storm that struck the hamlet of Clark Mills in central New York, the Oneida County Sheriff's Office said. The National Weather Service gave preliminary ratings of EF-2 to EF-3 or potentially higher for three tornadoes that struck eastern North Dakota — meaning wind speeds of 111 to 135 mph (179 to 217 kph) and 136 to 165 mph (219 to 266 kph), respectively, with varying severity of damage. EF-3 and stronger ranges are not usual for the Northern Plains, National Weather Service Meteorologist Jacob Spender said. 'As we go higher on the scale, it's not as common but they can still happen,' he said. The tornadoes uprooted numerous trees, tossed train cars and damaged houses, Spender said. The night included supercells in southeastern North Dakota and a derecho — a powerful windstorm — that tore across the state to the east. The wind lashed little Page, North Dakota, population 250, for over an hour, ravaging trees, roofs and structures, Mayor Jim Heidorn said. Half the town's trees are gone, he said. Cleanup might stretch throughout the summer. Kylie Weber was hunkering down with her family and some friends at her family's rural home near Oriska when the storm sucked her bedroom window out of the wall, blew the room's door off its hinges and ripped off part of the roof, she said. Their farm also lost a grain bin, among other damage. Thousands of people were still without power Monday. Having numerous ways to be alerted to severe weather is crucial, such as by smartphone and radio, Spender said. Many people vacation at lakes in remote areas in summer, and nighttime storms can be especially dangerous because people can't see what's coming, he said. The Weather Service confirmed that a tornado packing 105 mph (169 kph) winds touched down in upstate New York before dawn Sunday during severe thunderstorms. The tornado was blamed for the deaths of three people. The EF-1 tornado was on the ground for more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) and was about 300 yards (274 meters) wide at its peak as it spun from Clark Mills to North Clinton in Oneida County, west of Utica, the Weather Service said. Trees fell on three homes, killing twin 6-year-old girls in one and a person in another, officials and the Weather Service said. The twister also destroyed a historic grist mill along Oriskany Creek. The Weather Service said the thunderstorms also produced high winds that caused other scattered damage.
