Series of Reports Concerning Multiple Tornado Strikes in Central Florida- 02/23 to 02/25/98

From the ERRI Watch Center

ORLANDO (EmergencyNet News) - Severe storms swept through central Florida early on Monday. At least 43 people have been reported killed or are missing and presumed dead as tornadoes damaged or destroyed scores of buildings and knocked out power.

A spokesman for the Seminole County Sheriff's office said, "We've had so many touchdowns we can't keep track of them. Some people slept right through it. They woke up and their house was gone."

At least 11 people were killed in Seminole County. Much of the damage from the storms late Sunday and early Monday was near the Sanford airport located just northeast of Orlando, but houses and mobile homes also were damaged and destroyed in other parts of the county.

In Osceola County, at least 13 people were killed and 200 structures were damaged. In Volusia County, a man was killed when his trailer home was destroyed. The local sheriff's department said it was looking at a wide path of destruction along U.S. Highway 92.

In Orange County one person also died in a retirement community just east of Orlando. There were three tornadoes reported in the town of Winter Garden. The roof of a convenience store was ripped off, and several cars were lifted from its parking lot in another area of the county. About 100 mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Orange County.

The death toll is expected to rise, authorities said.

Excerpted from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services Tuesday, February 24, 1998 Vol. 4 - 055

KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA (EmergencyNet News) - Rescuers are searching for at least six people still missing a full day after a band of monster tornadoes killed at least 38. Entire neighborhoods in central Florida were turned into heaps of wood, twisted metal and broken glass by winds of up to 260 mph. More than 250 people were injured, dusk-to-dawn curfews were in place. Survivors told incredible stories. A 16-year-old girl was blown through a window and 150 feet into a pasture. An 18-month-old toddler was picked up on his mattress delicately placed in a tree.

ESR CLOSE UP

One tornado that was about 200 yards wide cut a nine-mile path through central Florida, narrowly missing the crowded tourist corridor that includes Disney World, Universal Studios Florida and Sea World.

Special to EmergencyNet News - 02/25/98 - 07:55CST

Killer Tornadoes Ravage Central Florida

By: Steve Kidd

Shortly before midnight on February 22 a line of deadly tornadoes ripped across Central Florida, obliterating occupied homes and buildings, killing at least 38 people and injuring over 200. Six people are still missing three days after the storm.

The first wave of the F-3 class storms started in Winter Garden, a small town just west of Orlando, and skipped their way across Seminole County and into Volusia County, leaving the state just South of Daytona Beach. Within 20 minutes another band of tornadoes, some reaching F-4 class, ripped through Osceola County, a few miles South of the Orlando International Airport and continued East of the airport into Orange County.

Since the disaster struck four counties at once, and affected the entire greater Metropolitan Orlando area, emergency workers were spread thin during the first 6 hours after the event. Command posts were established in each of the affected zones to coordinate initial search and rescue efforts which were hampered by heavy rain and total darkness. Scores were pulled from the rubble, both by rescuers and the spontaneous efforts of the survivors. Fifteen people were admitted to the hospital in Orange County, and 20 were admitted from the Osceola County storms.

Initial search efforts involved searching accessible voids and some selective debris removal using hand tools. Eight survivors were pulled from the wreckage of the Hyde Park mobile home community within the first four hours after the event. Stabilization efforts were difficult due to soggy ground and the lack of access to the area due to debris strewn roadways. One person was found dead in the darkness. Once daylight arrived on Monday morning, a deliberate and thorough secondary search was made, which discovered the bodies of two more people thrown from their homes.

Less than a mile away at the Country Garden Apartments, where the first band of tornadoes struck, over half of the wood frame, two story garden apartment buildings were destroyed. Since most of the building had lost their roofs, an aerial truck from Orange County was used to provide a safe platform for searching the second floor apartments through the openings. Again, accessible voids were searched by both firefighters and search dogs. Four people were found in two of the apartments the next morning, all uninjured and sleeping. A crane was brought in for selected debris removal from the worst hit building in the complex. Although all of it's residents were accounted for by the apartment complex managers, it was impossible to confirm that no one had been blown into the building in the flying debris. Eight cars, three boats, a concrete power pole and two large trees were removed from inside the eight unit building. The building was declared clear of victims after a six hour operation.

The search has been called off for a missing man in Volusia County after it was believed he was blown into the St. John's River. Divers have scoured a three mile stretch of the river, which is swollen to near flood stage after months of unusually heavy rains. The search in Osceola County remains in operation today for the remaining five people who are unaccounted for.

[Editor's note: Mr. Steve Kid (whom many in the field know as a recognized rescue specialist) is reporting from the scene of the tornado disaster in Central Florida. He was engaged in search and rescue work during the initial 24 hour shift after the storms hit. The above are his preliminary observations of the rescue efforts. Special thanks are in order for Mr. Kid for his contribution to our knowledge of this incident.] 

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