I am inside a Tornado

Pensacola Florida

Downtown

Vortex signature approaching

It sounds like a tornado out there

Tornado about the size of half a city block

I have tried to post to fragile earth 2x now... but thread too short....

Just got back from tour of compound all roofs check. Marginal debris.

Intersection at B and Jackson is closed

15 vehicles blue lights flashing

Saw sheet metal roof in air.

Sri Oracle

I'm headed out on foot to do a multi block status.

No injuries as of yet.
No damage on my land.

Seemed like 80 mile an hour wind. The tornado eye actually crossed over the next block over.

Material was 400+ feet in air.

Sri Oracle

They have issued a Tornado warning for your area:

AT 1016 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND STORM

AT 1016 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND STORM SPOTTERS WERE TRACKING A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. A LARGE TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND!

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO BRENT...EAST PENSACOLA HEIGHTS...PENSACOLA REGIONAL A/P...FERRY PASS...PACE...MILTON AND BAGDAD

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG TO VIOLENT TORNADOES. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!

Link

Good luck man...

Edit: They updated the message at 10:31 AM so check the link for updates.


[edit on 18-10-2007 by Copernicus]

Reports of tornadoes down at Cordova Mall and Sacred Heart Hospital. Daycare at A and Jackson has no roof.

Several cars upsided down.

Several homes with no structural roofs or walls.

Several large trees down.

10/18/2007 1013 am

Pensacola, Escambia County.

Tornado, reported by broadcast media.

Tornado on ground near downtown Pensacola from wear TV towercam.

link to weatherunderground.com


I feel like I am the only house with power. Weird.

edit: fixed link

[edit on 10/18/2007 by Gools]

BE CAREFUL out there!! Amazing how this slid by me in the news..... any more reports? Don't risk your life for this, talk about the whole side of the story!

Sri, please above all else stay safe!

It is not worth posting the news from where you are if you are in danger.

Hopefully this passes with few injuries. Wishing you all the best over there.

Interesting damage down here indeed. I am quite upset that I was not down here at the time of the touchdowns. I viewed from a distance.

Glad you are okay, fellow Pensacol-ian

Originally posted by niteboy82
Sri, please above all else stay safe!

It is not worth posting the news from where you are if you are in danger.

I think I am best off inside right now.



hearsay: Office Max in Cordova Park has sustained major damage.

-------

Police, fire, ambulance, health department, city inspections, and county officials are scrambling around the area.

Tornado touches down in Pensacola; storms sweep through Panhandle
Posted on Thu, Oct. 18, 2007
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The Associated Press

PENSACOLA, Fla. --
A tornado touched down Thursday, damaging this city's major shopping mall, as a line of violent thunderstorms made their way across the western Panhandle.

The twister could be seen tossing debris around, and preliminary damage reports were still coming in, said Escambia County sheriff's spokesman Glenn Austin. He said the tornado struck a section of Cordova Mall, the major shopping mall in Pensacola. He said he did not know the extent of damage.

Jack Cullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile, Ala., confirmed that it was a tornado that touched down. He said there were no official damage reports because they were still gathering information.

"It wasn't on the ground very long, just a matter of minutes. Then it went back up and now it has kind of weakened," he said.

Austin said some Pensacola Beach homes reported wind damage from storms earlier in the day.

In downtown Pensacola, electricity was out and streets were filled with several inches of water from rain that began around dawn.

www.miamiherald.com...

It has been pouring rain on and off since yesterday. Probably over 6" down in less than 24 hours. Stopped at momement, but more heavy rain approaching.

uwfemergency.org...

The University of West Florida is closed today.


All students, faculty and staff should seek shelter indoors.

[edit on 18-10-2007 by Sri Oracle]

Your own personal safety comes first people!!

You can tell us about it after it passes.
.

Originally posted by Gools

Your own personal safety comes first people!!

You can tell us about it after it passes.
.

The moment has passed. Its just drizzling. Nasty line of storms headed our way though.

Sri Oracle

I agree..get to safety, and tell us after it passes.

reply to post by Sri Oracle


That is what I was just looking at on your local radar. WEAR isn't even reporting any of it on their website from what I saw in their weather section.

Seems that a bunch of cars at Target were overturned, and initial reports say no injuries. The roof was torn off of one of the restaurants at the mall.

I hope the next line of storms is just rain.

Goodness sounds awfull down thee, As other have said please keep safe,

Glad that you ae ok through it all and other members who also experienced it.

Keep an eye out for the coming hours,

Originally posted by niteboy82

I hope the next line of storms is just rain.

So do I, these storms are not safe for anyone here in Pensacola...

At the same time, I revel in the excitement of this.


EDIT: This is odd though, we rarely have something like this... yet they are asking us to watch for more? Climate has been odd all year too....

[edit on 18-10-2007 by Foxe]

Pensacola News Journal pnj.com

Published - October, 18, 2007
Tornadoes hit Escambia
From staff reports
Multiple tornadoes have been reported in Escambia County.

They are:

Barrancas and Main Streets. Emergency dispatchers report cars have been overturned and one home has lost its roof. The bridge could be closed.

On Panferio Drive on Pensacola Beach. Minor damage has been reported.

At Blue Angel Parkway and Sorrento Road near the Wal-Mart. Trees along Sorrento Road close to Bower Road have been uprooted.

In Myrtle Grove, moving northeast toward Ferry Pass and onto Pace in Santa Rosa County by later this morning.

Escambia County dispatch has been flooded with calls of damage. At one point dispatchers said dozens of people "enjoying the tornado" lined Cervantes street.

One particularly powerful storm moved north along 9th Ave. leaving a trail of downed tress and power lines toward Cordova mall.

- At the mall the roof of the Tijuana Flats restaurant has been torn off.

- Part of the roof at Dillards has blown off.

- Gulf Power is reporting that 5,174 people are without power.

- Dozens of cars in the Target parking lot in Pensacola have been overturned.

- Emergency rooms at Sacred Heart and West Florida Hospitals are not reporting any storm related injuries.

- Seven people in a house that collapsed at B St. and Jackson have been taken to Baptist Hospital.

- The neighborhood around A St. and Gasden St. through to B St. and Cervantes has heavy damage. One house loss its roof.

- The Pensacola Interstate is still scheduled to open at 4 p.m.

- Greater Little Rock Baptist Church has severe damage.

Schools

Escambia School officials urge parents to stay put. But will release students to their parents care.

All after school activities are canceled.

There is a report that part of the roof of a portable classroom at Hallmark Elementary has been torn off, though no students were in the area at the time.

Flooding

The area in under an urban flood warning.

Also flooding has been reported throughout the area, specifically along Interstate I-110. Traffic northbound was backed up until Fairfield because of flooding and dirt run-off.

There has been a reported 6-inches of rain in the Gulf Breeze area this morning.

on the fragile weather subject... at the same time that I was in a tornado in pensacola... my mom was landing in myrtle beach and said her plane encountered severe sheer. She said the plane tilted nearly 45 degrees left, then 45 degrees right... people screaming and all the baggage fell into the isles. continental flight.


rumor is there is an active vortex/waterspout near the peir at the moment; thats 15 block from here... I can't tell by looking out my door. Locals are spooked.

Two huge front end loaders just went by. A pecan tree in the ajacent lot just fell over... not due to wind really; the soil is just soaked and peanutbuttery.

CNN says there's another cell headed towards us.

Sri Oracle

wkrg.com...

Published: October 18 2007 - 11:28 am
Last Updated: October 18 2007 - 11:49 am
text size: small medium large
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
SOUTHERN OKALOOSA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH...

* UNTIL NOON CDT

* AT 1120 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 10 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF MARY ESTHER...OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NAVARRE...
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

*THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
MARY ESTHER BY 1140 AM CDT...
WRIGHT...OCEAN CITY AND 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF FORT WALTON BEACH BY
1150 AM CDT...
7 MILES NORTHWEST OF EGLIN AFB AND 9 MILES WEST OF VALPARAISO BY
NOON CDT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ALSO ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN ESCAMBIA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA...
SOUTHEASTERN SANTA ROSA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA...

* UNTIL 1215 PM CDT

* AT 1126 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR GULF
BREEZE...OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTH OF PENSACOLA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
ORIOLE BEACH BY 1140 AM CDT...

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
STURDY SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST
DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

It looks as though the storm is pushing east past Santa Rosa into Oakaloosa County. Still carrying hail potential and 50 knot wind.

My spirit is with you, glad to know you made it through the night of terror. We were also put through the ringer last night and had to evacuate twice to safety. Luckily we are are safe and sound today. We were N. of Springfield mo. The damage was minimal for the level of super cells that passed us by. I went on chat a few times to just touch base with some of my friends here and to aleve some of my stress. It was unusual for this time of year. There is no denying the fact our planet and its weather phenomenon is changing rapidly. These are just reminders of our fragile existance and the level of preparations people must make to survive the coming global catastrophies.