Florida Tornados: Hundreds of Homes Destroyed, Power Outage Reported Near Fort Myers Area

According to the news by CNN, on January 16, multiple tornados struck southwest Florida causing massive damage to property and leading to power outage. More than 28 homes were completely destroyed and at least 62 are currently ‘unlivable’ in Lee County. Approximately 7,000 houses faced power outage post the event. Most of the damage reported was in the IonaMcGregor area, in Florida. 

As per the damage survey by the NWS, one of these tornados was an EF2 with maximum winds of 118 mph. The twister completely destroyed 30 mobile homes near Fort Myers. There were reports of some injuries, however, no fatalities have been reported so far.

Another twister, an EF1 tornado was located in Charlotte County, north of Fort Myers, with winds of 110 mph damaging houses as it tracked its path. The waterspout moved across Gasparilla sound near Boca Grande Causeway, and then moved ashore as a short-lived tornado near Placida destroying at least 35 homes and a marina storage facility. 

January tornados in Florida are rare. The state has witnessed only two tornados in January over the last 20 years. Both were E1 tornados in Leon County in 2021.

In the other part of the country, brutal winter storm Izzy is barreling the US Southeast with heavy snow, freezing rain and ice as it tracks towards northeast today.