JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A confirmed tornado sent a pick-up truck flying across Beach Boulevard on Friday afternoon as strong storms moved across the city’s Southside.
The National Weather Service said an EF-1 tornado ripped through Jacksonville’s southside with winds reaching 100 mph.
Incredible video of the dramatic scene was captured by Hunter Luken and others and shared with News4JAX.
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“Is it making a tornado right now? Are we watching a tornado form right there?” someone can be heard saying on the video that was taken from inside a car driving down Beach Boulevard.
The tornado then appears to form in a used car lot and lift up a Toyota Tacoma before sending it flipping across the median. The truck narrowly missed oncoming traffic.
“Oh my gosh!” someone in the car yelled.
According to JFRD, no one was injured.
Another video of the same tornado, recorded by Ellen Mitchell, shows how cars on the road had to stop to avoid the flipping truck.
She said the whole experience was “very scary.”
“I saw a funnel form and I decided to break my phone out and just take a quick video of it. I had never seen a tornado before. I’m a Florida girl born and raised,” Mitchell said. “If that tornado was able to do that to a vehicle, if a human being was standing out there, what would happen because as Floridians are constantly on the lookout for hurricanes, but not something that’s quick like that.”
Mitchell said the tornado touched down 20 minutes before she got an alert about a Tornado Warning.
“I feel very fortunate. I mean, it could have taken our lives it could have taken any one of us out or anyone over here. But luckily we’re all here. We’re safe, we’re alive by the grace of God.
There was also small-scale damage in the area and reported power outages.
The widespread storm knocked out power to at least 7,600 JEA customers, mostly along Atlantic Boulevard.
Further away, at the St. Johns Town Center, Zach Morgan saw the tornado forming. He recorded a video that shows the tornado building slowly as lightning fills the sky.
According to the National Weather Service, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near UNF moving north at 15 mph.
A Tornado Warning was then issued at 2:20 pm. and expired at 2:45 p.m., but a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was still in effect until 4 p.m.
On another side of town, all lanes of Arlington Expressway near Millcreek were briefly closed due to flooding, according to JSO.
In the Grove Park area further down Beach Boulevard, multiple trees were toppled and power lines were damaged.