Panama City, FL tornado ripped through 16 homes in St. Andrews area

2022-06-15 19:05:15 By : Ms. Yoyo Zhao

PANAMA CITY — Bay County officials on Monday said 16 homes were damaged by Friday’s EF-2 tornado that roared through the St. Andrews area.

County spokeswoman Valerie Sale said the houses that sustained damage were scattered across six streets — five on Calhoun Avenue, one on Hickory Avenue, two on West 18th Street, three on Arthur Avenue, four on Clay Avenue and one on Wilmont Avenue.

The tornado, which packed 120 mph winds, was confirmed by NWS experts on Sunday afternoon. Later Sunday, NWS officials said the tornado was 1.6475 miles in length and 75 yards wide. It started at 6:16 p.m. and ended four minutes later.

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The tornado was captured on video moving onshore in the St. Andrews area across West 15th Street. It moved northeastward through numerous residential streets before lifting near Frankford Avenue, NWS officials reported.

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The most significant damage occurred from near West 18th Street northeastward to Clay Avenue. Some residences had large sections of their roofs torn off. In addition, a house at 1816 Arthur Ave. was moved four feet off its foundation.

An EF-2 tornado is considered “strong” on the Fujita scale and can cause considerable damage, including tearing roofs from frame houses, demolishing mobile homes, pushing over boxcars, snapping or uprooting large trees, and turning light objects into projectiles.

A dual-pol tornadic debris signature (TDS) was evident on KEVX radar, according to the NWS.