F1 tornado strikes neighborhoods southeast of downtown Orlando

An F1 tornado that struck Orlando on Saturday night toppled trees, smashed cars and ripped off roofs in neighborhoods southeast of downtown, authorities said Sunday.

The National Weather Service determined that the twister, with winds of 100 to 105 mph, started as a water spout on Lake Conway at 7:20 p.m. and lifted back to the sky at 7:32 p.m. near Lake Lawsona. There were no reports of injuries.

The majority of the damage was caused by trees that fell onto homes, according to a tweet from meteorologist Scott Spratt in the Melbourne office.

The Lake Margaret Village apartment complex took the brunt of the tornado, with several buildings damaged.

Terri Young, 56, had just moved in January to the single-story complex on South Ferncreek Avenue at Lake Margaret Drive.

On Sunday morning, Young used aluminum foil to cover windows smashed during the storm. Her truck is damaged, but her two cats, Elvis Presley and Amber Lynn, plus her cocker spaniel, Lucky, are safe, she said.

“It happened too fast,” Young said. “The next thing you know you hear the big pop, and the power went out. All of a sudden, it was so loud. I ran down the hall and the cats came running. ... It was frightening, and then it was over. The cats are fine, but they’re terrified.”

Heavy damage also occurred along Catherine Street west of Mills Avenue several blocks south of State Road 408.

A large oak toppled onto powerlines, snapping poles and wires. At least a halfdozen Orlando Utilities Commission trucks were brought in to make repairs.

The two-story Lake Davis Apartments complex on the north side of Catherine Street also was struck.

Resident Dr. George Cooper said the building shook when it was hit by a falling oak tree that gouged a large hole in a secondstory exterior wall of the complex.

Cooper said responders and the Red Cross evacuated three apartments closest to the damaged building.

Cooper said he was monitoring weather reports and received a tornado warning.

“I thought, ‘It will miss us,’” he said. “It sure didn’t.”

Back at Lake Margaret Village, Seejay Coffindaffer, 24, and her fiancé Tyler Gootee, 27, ran into the bathroom after they heard the transformers blow.

“It was 20 seconds of the loudest — the only way I can describe it is — pressure,” Coffindaffer said.

The couple said they heard their neighbor, an amputee in a wheelchair, screaming for help so Tyler ran next door and tried to get inside but couldn’t. Authorities quickly showed up, they said, kicked in the door and took the man to a hospital.

“It was horrible,” Coffindaffer said. “It was so scary, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to go through a thunderstorm the same way again.”

Sentinel photographer Stephen M. Dowell contributed to this report.