Storms cause widespread damage in northern Fla.
A wave of severe weather from a deadly storm system pummeled northern Florida on Friday, uprooting trees, damaging homes and causing widespread power outages.
Officials said multiple possible tornadoes formed across the Florida Panhandle, including in Tallahassee, where damage was widespread. Teams with the National Weather Service have not yet been able to confirm if any tornadoes had touched down, citing ongoing storms.
Nearly 2 million people in northern Florida and southern Georgia were at enhanced risk of severe weather, with Jacksonville, Florida, and Valdosta, Georgia, being the cities facing the largest threat, the Storm Prediction Center said. A wider area from eastern Mississippi to the Carolinas was at slight and marginal risk of experiencing the fierce weather conditions.
“I can’t believe this,” said Kathy Bryant, a Tallahassee resident whose house was crushed by a large pine tree. Several of her neighbors helped her collect her family photos and her insulin, which was trapped in what used to be her kitchen.
“Thank God my baby wasn’t in here,” she told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, speaking about her granddaughter who occasionally stays with her overnight.
Florida Gov. Ron Desantis took to X to thank responders and pledge the state’s support in the recovery ahead.
“Following the severe weather that impacted North Florida this morning, I have directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to work with local officials and do everything possible to return life to normalcy for our residents as quickly as possible,” he wrote.
Tens of thousands of utility customers across Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and South Carolina reported outages.
Since Monday night, hailstorms, torrential rains and tornadoes pummeled states from the Plains and Midwest regions to the Gulf Coast. At least four people were killed, many were injured and hundreds of buildings were damaged as a result of the ferocious weather conditions this week.
Though it is forecast to be a beautiful Mother’s Day weekend for much of the country, rain expected in the Northeast and Plains regions could spoil some outdoor plans.
Showers were anticipated to roll over parts of the mid-atlantic region and New England on Saturday and into Sunday, according to Accuweather meteorologists. On Mother’s Day, a looming threat of showers remains over the central Appalachians and mid-atlantic.
A surface front over the southwestern U.S. was expected to support intermittent showers and thunderstorms over the central and southern Plains as well as Four Corners region through Saturday, the National Weather Service said. Some heavier storms were possible for portions of west Texas heading into Sunday evening.
The system was anticipated to gradually push east Saturday night into Sunday, expanding the possibility of rain throughout the central and southern Plains, the weather service said. The West Coast and Southeast – with the exception of South Florida – was largely expecting a dry weekend.
Contributing: Jeff Burlew, William Hatfield, Tallahassee Democrat