Last Updated: 4:50 p.m.
Note: if you have images of damage or damage reports, please text 386/503-3190.
A tornado touched down in Palm Coast’s B-Section at 4:45 this morning, cutting a west-east swath from the area of Belle Terre Parkway at One Lakes Parkway to I-95, causing severe damage to homes along the way and making several homes inhabitable, authorities said this morning.
“We definitely had a tornado touchdown in the Indian trails neighborhood this morning, around 4:45,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill said. “We will have a better idea of the total damage when we get a little bit better weather and daylight and all those kinds of things. But we know for sure that we’ve sustained multiple, severely damaged homes, but so far we’ve encountered no injuries. Fire crews, sheriff’s deputies, [firefighters] from both fire departments, Flagler County Fire Rescue and Palm Coast are in the area right now.”
The tornado touched down around 4:45 this morning, leaving a trail of downed trees, downed power lines, damaged roofs, fencing and power losses. There are no reports of injuries.
“I have reports of roof trusses into the ground like they were thrown to the ground like javelins, like multiple down the street from here, so definitely on the ground in this area,” Berryhill said, speaking at the command center authorities established with the Sheriff’s Office’s mobile command at Indian Trails Sports Complex.
Reflecting the instability of the morning, Berryhill asked a reporter, Sheriff Rick Staly and sheriff’s and city spokespersons to retreat to a Little League equipment building just before the interviews, as the area was again under a tornado warning.
At least three houses were known to have had their roofs blown off or been damaged enough to make them inhabitable.
In late afternoon, Bob Pickering, Emergency Management’s weather specialist, released the first estimates of the tornado’s characteristics: its estimated peak winds were 115 miles per hour. That would make it an F2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
It traveled one mile (not counting its effects in western Flagler) and had a width of 200 yards. It touched down at 4:40 a.m. at 29.5691 latitude and -81.2483 longitude, desisting at 4:56 at 29.576/-81.2337.
The first touchdown was near the intersection of Belle Terre and Pine Lakes parkways, traveling north toward I-95. The tornado destroyed the roof of a house on Baltimore Lane, flipped a van on Birchwood Drive, and mangled several screened lanai enclosures, sheds and fences. Rainfalls so far today range from 2 to 4 inches, with continuing heavy late-afternoon downpours.
“Flagler County Emergency Management has set up at the Parkview church here on Belle Terre so both the church and county EM are there to help folks get to get some shelter for today if they don’t have appropriate shelter right now,” the fire chief said. Parkview is at 5435 Belle Terre Parkway. (As of 9:30, one family was already receiving assistance there.)
Several roads branching off of Belle Terre Parkway were restricted to local traffic, with traffic allowed out but not in.
On Bayside Drive at midmorning, three neighbors had gathered to debrief, across the street from several houses and yards with damaged roofs or downed trees. One of the residents described the experience as hearing a 10-second freight train pass by” “here and gone,” he said of the 4:35 a.m. event. “That freight train went by for 10 seconds, down that side of the road, not this side.” He pointed across the street from his driveway, to the affected side. He and his neighbors then enumerated the damage they’d heard about in their neighbors’ properties, including a tree that had fallen on one neighbor’s roof.
They said for two hours, the heaviest traffic had been of roofers and tree-cutting companies, knocking on every door. They weren’t kidding: in the few minutes a reporter spent on Bayside Drive, three or four such contractors drove by, some stopping and handing their cards to whoever was on a property.
It appeared from observation that the tornado had cut a narrow path, in one area as if mowing through backyard after backyard along Bayside Drive, snapping trees, mangling lanai screens and whipping off fencing panels.
Jessica Myers, who runs Community Cats of Palm Coast and its thrift store at City Marketplace, happens to live on Baltimore Lane, a few houses from the affected area. “We have extended an invitation to the families here on Baltimore Lane, our neighbors, To come down to the thrift store and get any items, clothing bedding, any items that they need to get them through this,” Myers said. “I would also like to extend that invitation to anybody else that may have been impacted. I know they have all been put up in hotels, but those personal items are probably what they’re needing most right now.”
The thrift store at 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite C101 (on the ground floor), is offering these items at no cost to those who need them. That include clothes, bedding or household items. “This may not be an animal related crisis, but I feel that if we have resources that can help someone in need in our community that we not only want to do so, but I think we have an obligation to help,” Myers said, even providing her cell numbers for those who need to call after hours: 386/264-2684.
“We held over our night shift so we would make sure we had enough staff because we change shifts at 6 a.m.,” Sheriff Rick Staly, who was at the command center, said. “Right now, we’re not seeing the issues that we saw during the Starlight tornado but we won’t tolerate any of that. That’s why we have extra people out in these areas.”
Staly was referring to the December 19, 2013 tornado that tore through Palm Coast’s B, F and C Sections, demolishing numerous homes but also not injuring anyone. Deputies at the time patrolled neighborhoods to prevent looting of emptied homes, and to reduce the number of gawkers in scenes still strewn with potentially live wires and hazardous obstructions.
“And so you’re going to see patrols throughout,” Staly said. “The fire department and emergency management will do most of the cleanup throughout, the day. But we are here to assist them and make sure that there are aren’t any issues. Also with our fire department, because it was so dark out, we were going door to door to make sure everybody was okay.”
Damage has been reported in the area of Indian Trails–Birchwood Drive, Birchview Place, Barley Lane, Barrington Drive–with some 500 customers losing power initially, according to Florida Power and Light, though nearer to 8:30 a.m., that number was cut to 100. Crews were assessing the damage but darkness was making the job challenging.
“We also have some trees down on the western side of the county that could have been the initiation of the storm as it was heading heading that way, kind of in the 100, 75 and 302 area in Bunnell,” Jonathan Lord, the county’s emergency management director, said, referring to state and county roads.
“We do not have reports of structural damage there yet,” Lord said. The tornado in the western part of the county may not have touched down, or if it did, it may have skipped and bounced.
Lord had been in the field with the Sheriff’s Office, the Palm Coast Fire Department and Flagler County Fire Rescue, along with FPL and Palm Coast Public Works crews, some of which were clearing roads of tree limbs. “It’s hard to see it right now, obviously daylight is when we can really see, but we don’t know of any injuries at this point in time.” But, he said, “we’ve definitely had some structures impacted. Definitely lots of wires down, trees down.”
Describing what he saw before sunrise, he said, “there’s definitely trees on wires on everywhere. A lot of water due to the heavy rain but that’s probably all over Flagler County, as well as definitely some damage to a few homes, to roofs and things like that.”
Staly again warned against gawkers traveling to the affected zones. “We know from FPL there’s a little over 100 homes without power and so we want to assist those people,” Stalky said, “but we don’t need people right now coming into the area to gawk and look, power lines are down some trees are down. And so while it’s not likely that these lines are live, they could be, so for their safety, we don’t want people coming in right now. Of course daylight coming out now makes it a little easier to control egress into these areas.”
There was no tornado warning locally, Lord confirmed. There was one for northern Volusia County. “I don’t know what it was but it sure sounded like a tornado,” Darla Pantaleone wrote on FlaglerWeatherInfo.
The city was drenched by a severe storm and whipped by strong winds in pre-dawn hours, part of a weather system that spawned confirmed tornadoes on the western part of the state around Clearwater and that moved rapidly from west to east. The National Weather Service was reporting possible touchdowns in the Clearwater Beach and Crystal River areas.
No homes were impacted on the western side of Flagler County.
The National Weather Service will determine whether in fact a tornado did touch down. “That will take over a day maybe two days,” Lord said, “they have to come out, they have to look at the incident scene, they have to look at the debris pattern, then they look at their radar signatures and all that stuff. So that’s not something that we’ll know right away. And luckily, that doesn’t really impact the response. That’s kind of an after the fact.”
A tornado warning remained in effect for west0central Flagler County and southeastern Putnam until 7:15 a.m., according to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville. A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Fruitland, or near Pomona Park, on the western side of Crescent Lake, moving northeast at 45 mph. The storm was expected to reach Andalusia in western Flagler County at 7 a.m.
At 7:04 a.m., the weather service reported that doppler radar was tracking gusty showers capable of producing a landspout over Andalusia, moving northeast at 45 mph.
A tornado watch was in effect for all of Flagler County until 9 a.m. and a flood advisory was in effect until 8:30 a.m. The weather service was forecasting continued thunderstorms with gusty winds and heavy rainfall this morning, with southwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.
A school district spokesperson said buses are running their normal schedule this morning.
[This is a developing story.]
TR says
Well we will just have to see what the report says. Glad there are no reports of any injuries. My question is why my cell phone didn’t give me a loud warning signal? Just last week at 2:20pm (forgot what day) there was a test of the emergency alert system from Fema on all electronic devices to make sure the system was working properly to notify everyone when something like this happens. I guess it doesn’t work.
Resident says
I didn’t get an alert on my phone, but my husband had three go off on his phone. I don’t understand that at all.
Heardit says
Apple iOS 17
How to turn Location Services on or off for specific apps
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
Make sure that Location Services is on.
Laurel says
Tell Alexa to notify you of weather alerts. You’ll get a bunch, but it’s still helpful.
On my Android, I get weather alerts from Noaa by signing up to https://www.accuweather.com.
No says
FEMA doesn’t alert you of local tornado warnings. It’s the “Federal” emergency management alert system, so warnings for “Federal” alerts, not local.
TR says
So a tornado isn’t a federal problem? Got it, so when we have heavy rain we will all get an alert. Or if it’s a bigger disaster and a tornado or hurricane runs through an area where hundreds of homes are destroyed say like in the Bahamas we will get an alert. Got it.
Gotit says
Are you signed up to Flagler Alert? They announced an alert this morning.
Should you have an iPhone possibly do this: Settings > Location Services >Weather, then tap Always. Turn on Precise Location to receive the most accurate notifications for your current location.
Just a suggestion.
DMFinFlorida says
Our house is roughly 100 yards from the damage yet we got no emergency alerts on our phones (land line or cell). We didn’t even know until my husband left for work at 7:30 and had trouble getting out of the neighborhood! After he left, both our cell phones and the house land line got emergency alerts from the county. A little late!!
CELIA PUGLIESE says
Also those vinyl or wood privacy panels fences can become very dangerous flying objects in heavy wind storms/tornados.
Looking forward for our neighbor affected receive all the help they may need. Thank you to our emergency services and I am wondering how come this time the emergency alert could not detect the incoming tornado. Thank you also to Flaglerlive and all the media keeping us informed of this storm.
CELIA PUGLIESE says
Hope no one hurt or with too much property damages…I can see those vinyl or wooden fence paneling always first thing down in any strong windstorm that I would never install in my Florida home given our weather. The most effective windstorm proof and also pleasing o the eye, are the regular black chain link fences that allow the strong winds go thru without damage for many more years endurance also they do not show the unsightly black/green mold stains. For privacy screen along the chain link green privy edges or confederate jazmin dark green fast growing bloom fragrant vine. This type of fencing will widstand storms no problem.
Mark says
That’s sounds like a great idea with the Vine for privacy, thanks Celia!
PeachesMcGee says
How can the rest of us help?
Red Cross? Go Fund Me?
Pierre, find a way and let us know!
Whathehck? says
Thank you Flagler Live for this update. As always we can count on you for a leveled headed report.
Joey G says
Its a shame there is no code for these junk fences and you don’t even need a permit. The installers do not add a 4×4 inside these plastic posts. They lookd good for a few years than go to pot and warp etc. The city does a real poor job inspecting all these new roofs it’s nothing like what it used to be. They better get a grip on some of these building practices before it’s too late. Thank God so far no one is hurt which is a good thing, property can be replaced.
TR says
I hate to disagree, but there are codes in place for fencing. There are height restrictions and you definitely need a permit. There are also only three types of fences that can be installed, wood, vinyl or chain link. Of course there is also the natural fence made from bushes which I believe has no height restrictions, but I’m not 100% on that one. The neighbor behind me had a vinyl fence installed about 9 years ago and it looks today as if it was done yesterday. No warping, no leaning or anything. I guess it all depends on who installs the fence from the start.
Me says
Just glad no one was hurt material things can always be repaired.
Samuel Carcione says
The Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued by NWS JAX at 4:40 am included the following statement:
“Remain alert for a possible tornado! Tornadoes can develop quickly
from severe thunderstorms. If you spot a tornado go at once into the
basement or small central room in a sturdy structure.”
NWS JAX was asked if they were considering issuing a Tornado Warning and went with the Severe Thunderstorm Warning with the possible Tornado inclusion. Flagler County is at the end of most radar loops, including TV stations.
tulip says
well hopefully the “powers that be” will smarten up and make sure flagler county gets in included in those alerts. I don’t have much confidence they will though. 😥
Skibum says
This is why everyone needs to get one of the inexpensive, but critically important NOAA Emergency Alert Weather Radios. Ours, which I keep on the nightstand next to the bed, was going off several times throughout the night and waking us up with the tornado warnings. But these radios do their job to keep us informed of severe weather, and I would much rather be woken up instead of being unaware of a tornado about to hit us and not being able to get to a safe spot in the house.
Bartholomew says
That is what the schools use. Very effective and efficient
Jeremy Vest says
I got an alert – if you sign up for Alert Flagler you’ll get weather alerts like this. It’s free!
https://www.flaglercounty.gov/departments/emergency-management/alertflagler-emergency-notification
DMFinFlorida says
@ Jeremy Vest
We are signed up (both house land line and two cell phones) and got NO alerts! Our alerts on all three phones came AFTER 7:30 a.m. saying take shelter until 8:30 a.m. A lot of good that did, it had already gone through the neighborhood (our house was not affected but we are just one street over from the area hit).
Winblows says
Fortunately I received the tornado warning alert on my cell phone at 7:30am. Just in time to flip on the news to learn of the touchdown from 3 hours earlier!
Could Have Been Worse says
If you register with the Flagler County Emergency Management you will get phone calls/text/email. No matter what the hour of the day or night. All combinedI received 24 messages regarding the storm and tornado warnings overnight.
Glad no one was hurt – everything damaged can be fixed or replaced.
DMFinFlorida says
@ Could Have – you are luckier than we were then.
We are signed up (both house land line and two cell phones) and got NO alerts! Our alerts on all three phones came AFTER 7:30 a.m. saying take shelter until 8:30 a.m. A lot of good that did, it had already gone through the neighborhood (our house was not affected but we are just one street over from the area hit).
KatLady says
It’s possible you have quiet hours turned on with your alerts. Call Emergency management and have them look up your account and verify all your information.
JimboXYZ says
Last 10 days has been weird for rainfall too. The rainfall is leaving standing water that is worse than any of the hurricanes we’ve had. If it isn’t a hurricane/tropical storm it’s a cyclone/tornado ? That’s all a hurricane is really a bigger tornado. Ripe for a tornado. The last one was the EF-1 that rolled thru Bunnell to Flagler Beach back in December 2019.
Anyway, was up at that hour noodling on an acoustic guitar, radio on in the background, smartphone nearby, both had warning broadcasts. As for the comments on building codes ? Look at the trees that were ripped apart, split in half. Even if you didn’t get the emergency broadcast system, a tornado is like that, not much you can do nut ride the awesome & devastating display of Mother Nature in action. The human race is merely more than parasites on the planet Earth, know our place in the grand scheme of the universe.
Going back a decade or so, Texas & SE USA experienced tornadoes. I have/had family in the Granbury, TX area, they lived within a couple of miles from each other when a tornado warning was broadcast & eventually hit. They got their warnings, even enough time for them to gather at the wrong house to pick of the 2 dwellings. The house that was devastated by the tornado was Wizard of Oz epic strength, they perished in that strike, the house was lifted with them with it, ended up elsewhere from the land and they survived long enough to suffer for it. Neighbors found them lying out in the pasture/field. That was May 2013.
Part of the problem with any tornado, is they’ll form & touch down in flat land, think like when the developers level forestry like what you see on FL-100 and even what is going on with the residential areas that Alfin & Company keeps approving. The tree lines of the forests are really the only thing that has any chance of breaking up the winds in flat FL. What we see here is residential that has less treeline than it did before. and that makes the area ripe for the next tornado & storm to go thru that corridor of flatter land. Take water spouts ? Those form on flat water, Atlantic Ocean.
Laurel says
Jimbo: Yes, we need our trees! To developers, they are just in the way. What many don’t understand is that our barrier island and its oaks are the first defense against storms for the inland residents. For us, too. But our fearless leaders are far more interested in lining their pockets.
Oh, by the way, how are the pep tanks in Palm Coast doing with the excessive rain? Pep tanks are known to overflow with raw sewage during heavy rain storms, also the lift stations overload allowing the overflow from manholes. Great planning, huh? This is what Palm Coast wants to do to the barrier island Hammock because there are supposedly leaky septic tanks (exactly where?). But, Palm Coast will get more revenue for their faulty planning.
You couldn’t pay me to swim in the ICW right now. With the added growth in Palm Coast, this is truly paradise lost, in a very short period of time.
Concerned Citizen says
Here are a source of weather alerts. All are free.
1.) Alert Flagler: https://member.everbridge.net/892807736725594/login
2.) Accuweather: Android/IOS
3.) Flaglerweatherinfo local Facebook page headed up by Bob Pickering and local volunteers. All storm spotters.
3.) Weather Bug: Android/IOS
4.) Weather Channel Android/IOS
5.) Weather Underground Android/IOS
6.) Always keep a NOAA Weather Radio properly programmed. They are backed up by batteries and will alert with no power. Found inexpensive on Amazon and Walmart
You can tailor your phone to silence these. But as just show severe weather can happen at any time. And with little to no warning. When running weather apps make sure to run at least two so you have redundancy. I also use Radar Scope for radar which is a great app for radar imagery.
Flagler County is at the fringe of weather radar. That is why we have a very active storm spotter group. With many well known members involved. Flagler County Emergency Management is hosting a storm spotter class Oct 16th. contact them to see if spots are open. Great educational opportunity.
James says
This is the second storm in 2 years!, this place ain’t worth staying to retire. Building and destroying 24-7. Im selling out, going back to go old North Carolina!
Nancy N. says
Uh, I hate to break it to you, but they have weather in North Carolina too. Including hurricanes and tornadoes.
Atwp says
My weather alarm radio woks just fine, woke me up at 3 times this a.m. Am glad there was no reports of injuries. Am meddling now, am wondering what lame excuse the insurance companies will use not to pay for the damages caused by the storm. My fence was partly destroyed by hurricane ivan last year. The insurance company came and did what they were suppose to do I suppose. Got nothing nothing from them but an increased premium. Welcome to Florida, high premiums, high deductibles, they help as little as possible. Those people in the B section need help.
Happy no injuries says
Let’s be thankful that we didn’t have to use the schools for an emergency shelter, before Sally Hunt closes them for that purpose
Concerned Citizen says
If you are having clean up work done watch for scams.
If someone approaches you unsolicited and hands you a card do your due diligence. Make sure they are a licensed contractor. Unfortunately there are dishonest people who prey on disaster recovery efforts.
Me says
I received several warnings on my landline phone but on my cell phone the warnings didn’t come to me until the following day at 3:00pm in the afternoon. I am not understanding how that could happen?
Ron says
Destruction of the forest is what’s causing this. The forest or a natural buffer zone. The trees break the winds and prevent tornadoes from forming a lot of times. Palm Coast is basically all flat sitting on asphalt now with all the building and destruction of our woodlands.
Joey G says
Just to be clear a PERMIT is NO LONGER needed to install a fence in Palm coast. The height still remains the same at 6′.
A permit is no longer required to install a fence, however, acknowledgement by the property owner of the City Land Development Code for fence installation is required before proceeding. Land Development Code: 4.01. 02 Fences & 9.02. 02 Easements 1.
As far as the type of fence it’s funny that 1 persons response was that there are 3 types, wood, vinyl or chain link. That is correct but you can install 100 different types of fences. Common sense says these are the most common (not sure if anyone would want a brick or block fence). You also no longer need a permit for a shed up to 120 square feet. So someone does not even half to anchor it down if they don’t want to. There is no inspection.
Treeman says
Big WIND Day and everyone is SAFE! Now, the only Big WIND in Palm Coast is RINO Dumbko!!
jeffery c. seib says
Looking at all the damage, it’s truly a wonder that no one was injured. As one resident said, you can always replace the house and everything in it. But you can’t replace a life, or someone hurt. Thankfully, tornados are a rare event for us here in palm Coast. I hope this is not an indicator of any type of climate change event, only just an extreme abnormality. Let’s keep our guards up and be ready to help our neighbors.