JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A tornado tore through neighborhoods on Jacksonville's Westside Monday afternoon, and residents continued clean-up efforts Tuesday.
The National Weather Service confirmed Tuesday that damage around Crystal Springs and Blair roads was from a tornado. The tornado was considered an EF-1, with 86-110 mph winds. The tornado was 200-500 feet across and 4 miles long in track.
PHOTOS: NWS shows path of EF-1 tornado
Gov. Rick Scott visited first responders in Jacksonville on Tuesday to thank them for the preparation efforts. He was at Fire Station No. 1 on North Liberty Street and brought bagels with him.
Scott said the agencies in Jacksonville worked as a team to keep the public informed and prepared for Tropical Storm Colin. Mayor Lenny Curry and Sheriff Mike Williams were also at the fire station Tuesday and echoed the governor's comments.
"What you saw yesterday was your city coming together, your city organized and prepared for a potential crisis so we can make wise and rapid decisions," Curry said.
"We will continue to prepare and continue to plan and train," Williams said. "Hopefully, we have a light season, but we are prepared if we don't."
Public Works officials initially said that despite anticipated extra yard waste from Tropical Storm Colin, only 5 cubic yards of waste would be collected on normal collection days this week. But they later decided to waive the limit for two weeks as residents clean up from the storm.
WATCH: Storm damage reported on Jacksonville's Westside |
PHOTOS: Severe weather moves through area
Crystal Springs cleans up after tornado
Neighbors cleaning up Tuesday in Crystal Springs told News4Jax that a tree fell on three vehicles parked in a yard Monday, but no one inside the home was hurt.
"It was a split second and it wasn't a good one," Charles Jakes said. "We heard a couple of crashes because all of the pine trees in the back were snapping, so it was kind of scary, you know?"
Another woman had two trees uprooted in her front yard, and several sections of downed fence in her backyard.
Luckily, the trees fell away from her house, where she said she had been, hiding in a closet with her daughter.
"It's kind of disheartening, you know, when you work so hard on your yard," said Laurie Dankert, with the Meadow Point Homeowners Association. "But I'm just glad everybody is safe."
Dankert said she's fighting her insurance over the damage.
"(They asked,) 'What part of the tree is on the fence in the garage? They will pay to remove that. The other two-thirds of the tree that split, we have to pay out of pocket for," Dankert said. "And the tree that fell on the front lawn, we have to pay out of pocket to remove that."
The Crystal Springs neighborhood was filled with tree trimmers and roofers helping homeowners make repairs. Dankert said she also has some roof damage.
"A roof is a lot of money, like $10,000-$15,000. Insurance had better pay for that," Dankert said. "They have not even sent an adjuster out. I've been waiting. They said someone would call me in four hours. That was 4:30 yesterday afternoon. No one has called."
Neighbors said it's essential to document everything and contact licensed contractors to repair any damage.
Wayne McDowell said he wasn't home when the storm hit, but his wife was. She called to say there was lots of damage to their home.
"This is part of the roof right here. That was underneath the tarp, obviously, so we got holes in our den with water damage on the hardwood floors," McDowell said. "This is our tiki bar. That's a tiki bar here that was out on the pool deck. It got moved over on the force of the winds. The top had palm fronds on it. It's gone. We don't know where it's at."
WATCH: Surveillance video of storm whipping through neighborhood
Wayne watched video from his neighbor's surveillance system that shows what took place right outside his door.
In just moments, picnic tables, fences and basketball hoops went flying.
“In 30 seconds, all of this happened, just like that,” McDowell said. “I think there's going to be a lot of damage, plus with the inside damage too, with the Sheetrock and the water damage and the pool. And we have these trees over here cut in half.”
Nearly two dozen homes were damaged in the Meadow Point and Brookshire neighborhoods. Many residents called their insurance companies, but were told to wait at least 24 hours, to make sure there wasn't more damage overnight.
"All of a sudden, I felt the pressure in my ear, like I was on an airplane. And I heard a freight train running through my backyard, looked at the back window and I watched my entire yard just disappear -- one big gust of wind," neighbor Christopher Rodriquenz said.
Residents said they are thankful that no one was seriously injured.
"It started raining really hard and I was looking out my front door and I was looking over here. And I looked at all those trees and the trees were shaking real bad and it was, just really, wind and stuff was going around in a circle in the air," neighbor Reid Parrish said.
For the remainder of Monday evening, neighbors cleaned up, taking a chainsaw to fallen tree limbs and even fixing up rooftops of neighbors who weren't at home.
WATCH: Possible tornado tears through Westside neighborhoods
Argyle Forest recovers after storm
In Argyle Forest on Chimney Oak Drive, a family that closed on their property last Friday and moved their belongings in over the weekend suffered major damage.
Part of the chimney blew off their home and their back porch enclosure was ripped off and tossed into a neighbor's yard.
"I'm just sitting in the house yesterday with mom watching the wind whip like crazy, and the rain. The next thing I know we hear, like, a freight train coming through," Louis Potter said. "All of a sudden, the wind just swept up our back screen back here and blew it right over our house."
Lou Potter wasn't home with his wife and son when the storm hit, and said he's glad the phone call he got wasn't worse.
"At least I didn't get a call about a fatality," he said. "I just got a call of a house down. I'm thankful to God that they're both OK."
He said he's already put in the claim with their insurance company, but it will take time before everything is fixed.
Todd Hickox said he was aware the storm was coming, but he didn't know how close to home it would hit until Monday afternoon, when he got a few text messages from his friends asking him to come back home.
Hickox said he found multiple trees split in half and dozens of small branches scattered across the playground where his daughter plays.
"If we would have been home, it looks like the Lord would have taken care of us. It didn't go through the house, so that's good," Hickox said.
Emergency rescue crews were called to move trees, which had fallen on power lines.
Northside neighbors clean up
Tropical Storm Colin ripped through the North Shore neighborhood on the Northside, near West 60th Street and Pearl.
Huge trees were toppled and a van for an up-and-coming baking business was crushed.
"I lost the van. That was my workhorse," Michelle McInnis said. "I deliver food to people that are hungry in that van."
Michelle McInnis said she and seven family members took shelter in their home when the storm moved through.
"So I closed all the windows and that's when we heard the boom with the trees falling. And we saw the wires popping with the power lines and stuff. It was scary," Michelle McInnis said.
Michelle McInnis' and her husband, Dabbs McInnis, just started Sweet Spot and Urban Lounge. They bake out of their home and are trying to open up a shop in Springfield. To get things started, all they could afford to do was deliver their baked goods in the van, which won’t be easy to replace.
WATCH: North Shore storm damage
"I have three wedding cakes that we deliver in that van and all we have is liability on our insurance, so my husband’s a substitute teacher and that’s all we could afford while we were trying to get the store up and running," Michelle McInnis said.
The couple's other vehicles were also damaged.
"I’m going to have to cut this tree off -- it looks worse than it is -- try to get it off my truck, so that’s a good thing, except the van, as you can see, is totaled," Dabbs McInnis said.
The couple sells their products at a local farmers market on Beaver Street. That will apparently continue even longer than they wanted, because the storm damage could delay them opening a store.
"We're hanging in there. I think the shock is wearing off," Michelle McInnis said. "The tears had been coming all morning."
Michelle McInnis, who's a California native, said it was a new experience for her.
"I grew up in Los Angeles. We have earthquakes. So we could walk around and you never know when one is going to happen. But knowing that we got warning that a tornado was coming, and we could see the clouds swirling. And when you hear all the wind and the power, it's very, very scary," Michelle McInnis said/.
Neighbors said they huddled in their homes Monday night, not sure how bad the damage would be.
They awoke to damaged roofs and cars and uprooted trees in the area. Basketball hoops were knocked over, and some roofs were covered with nearly as many plastic bottles as shingles.
One man said it was downright scary being inside during the storm, not knowing how bad things would be when he could go outside again.
“That wind came out, it sounded like a twister might have came through,” Shelton Lucas said. “I was inside. My cousin was on the porch. He came inside and said, 'I saw the wind coming down the street and it went over the house, went through the back.'”
Some state investigators with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation were spotted in the neighborhood Tuesday.
Governor raises concerns over Zika
Although the threat of Tropical Storm Colin is gone, it left a major issue in its wake -- Zika.
File: Gov. Scott update on TS Colin
"We need to get rid of all the standing water around the state," Gov. Scott said. "We already have over 160 cases in the state, (including) 32 women that have tested positive. We don't need any more Zika."
Florida has more cases of Zika than any other state, but Scott said it's a national problem and the federal government needs to do more to prevent the spread.
"It's really disappointing that Congress went on recess, went on vacation. Zika's not going to go on vacation," Scott said.
Before the recess, Scott made a proposal asking for more funding and resources to help fight the virus in Florida.
"The federal government needs to show up," Scott said. "They need to show up with people, with insecticides. They need to show up with protective gear. They need to show up with laboratory services. There's money in the federal budget."
Scott said the state will offer up its resources and is willing to use some of the state funding to fight Zika if the federal government doesn't follow through.
Severe weather sweeps through Duval County
Tornado warnings were issued for western and north Duval County about 3:20 p.m. Monday.
Heavy rain caused flooding on I-95 at the Emerson Street exit.
Two right lanes on I-95 southbound, south of Atlantic Boulevard before the San Diego overpass, were closed for drainage work, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Storm damage was reported across the area.
Winds downed trees, including one on I-10 east of Chaffee Road, as well as in the Crystal Springs area on Jacksonville's Westside. Severe storms also took down signs at I-295 and 103rd Street.
It appears that winds flipped a semitruck in a warehouse parking lot.
Severe storms also hit Paradise Village Mobile Home Park on Wood Dove Way, knocking down trees and destroying a fence.
The Little Blessings Daycare Center at 1822 West 30th Street in Northwest Jacksonville was closed Tuesday, due to damages resulting from a tree that fell on the building Monday. There were children and staff in the day care center at the time, but no one was hurt.
The day care was cleared by the Department of Children and Families to reopen Wednesday. The tree limbs were moved off the building Tuesday night.
