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'The trees bent sideways:' Two Tornadoes Hit Palm Beach, Miami-Dade Counties

Authorities are still assessing damage in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties after two tornadoes touched ground early Monday morning. 

Two crews from the National Weather Service in Miami inspected damage in South Florida -- one in Miami-Dade County in Hialeah and Miami Springs, the second in Palm Beach County near Palm Beach and Juno Springs. 

Watches and warnings were issued Sunday, but some civilians were caught by surprise as the storm crept up on them early Monday morning. 

Preliminary reports indicate the first tornado touched ground at 1:40 a.m. in Palm Beach Gardens and the second around 3:45 a.m. in Miami Springs. Each lasted less than 10 minutes on the ground. In 2016, more than five tornadoes touched down in Broward and Palm Beach counties. 

Jorge Sorzano received a call from security around 5:30 a.m. The tornado had hit his office building in Miami Springs two hours earlier. 

"We had no power, the windows burst out, office came down, the bay door was knocked down, no power at the building at that time," Sorzano says. "It was just a mess, but all in all it could have been worse."

The tornado in Miami Springs touched ground east of the Palmetto Expressway and lifted in Hialeah near the Hialeah-Preston Water Treatment Plant. Early finding show the tornado was on the ground for three minutes, according to NWS Miami. It also flipped a tractor trailer onto several other vehicles parked next to it, and brought down power lines around the area.

In Palm Beach County, tornado winds peaked at 90 miles an hour and lasted for approximately 10 minutes. The worst damage was felt in the Mirabella community in Palm Beach Gardens.

A final report from the NWS Miami survey team was expected Monday evening.  

The Palm Beach County School District reported that William T. Dwyer High School was closed because of apparent tornado damage. All other schools in the district remained open.

Florida Power & Light officials initially reported about 3,000 customers in Broward County and just under 8,000 in Palm Beach County were without power as of 5 a.m. Monday. By 1 p.m., 4,600 in Miami-Dade, 1,000 in Palm Beach and 430 in Broward County still were without power.

Darlene Cruz-Rodriguez was with her husband in Miami Springs watching local news when all five of the cell phones in their house sounded off warnings of the tornado. She went to the windows and pulled the blinds up. 

"It was really fast. You didn't have much time to react," she said. "The wind started to swirl. The trees were bent sideways. It was unbelievable. You didn't have time to be afraid."

The wooden pole and power lines crashed down on her neighbor's yard behind her house. She lost power immediately. After the tornado passed, her family noticed a couple of shingles had flown off their roof and they lost three trees in their backyard.

Mariacela Mendez owns three homes in Miami Springs. She rents out two and lives with her mom and dad and an epileptic cocker spaniel named Stanley. 

She said she saw green lightning and heard debris hitting the windows, but it was the alarm that woke her up. 

"We went to my mother's bathroom and we were all hurdled up," she says. "I had to pay a private company to help pick up all the debris, so not a good start to the new year."

FPL officials reported roughly 150,000 customers lost power from North to South Florida. The company estimates those who lost power in Hialeah would get their power back by 6 p.m.

Katie Lepri Cohen is WLRN's engagement editor. Her work involves distributing and amplifying WLRN's journalism on social media, managing WLRN's social accounts, writing and editing newsletters, and leading audience-listening efforts. Reach out via email at klcohen@wlrnnews.org.
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