The tornado damaged about 200 homes
Cape Coral tornado damages homes and leaves thousands of others without electricity as it hits in southwest Florida with wind speeds of 135 mph. Luckily no deaths or serious injuries have been reported until now.
According to Dana Coston, spokesman of Cape Coral Police, many power lines have been tired apart and many homes have been damaged. About 10,000 people have been left without power which has been restored after several hours.
Over 100 fire rescuers went to all the houses to check on the residents in need of help. However, only minor injuries have occurred.
Kelly Anderson, a Cape Coral resident says that the evening started to become windy and when everything started to shake she sheltered in her bathroom. In just a few minutes she could hear glass shattering all around her. When the winds calmed down she went to find her kitchen and living room’s windows spread on the floor.
One of Andrson’s neighbors will come back to find their home in pieces as they were out of town when the tornado stroked. At the same time, near another house the woman could see a truck flying to the backyard while a boat landed above it. Fortunately nobody in the house has been injured.
Andrew McKaughan, meteorologist at the National Weather Service said that with winds reaching 135 mph the tornado was an EF2, one of the strongest tornado experienced by Southwest Florida since 1953.
Damaging about 200 homes, it is estimated that the total damage caused losses of about $6 million.
People who lost their homes will be sheltered in a local school with the help of the Red Cross.
Residents have started helping each other hours after the tornado. John DeStefano is a brave resident who started feeding his neighbors fresh hot dogs. The man had plans to go to a barbeque at one of his friends but instead he decided to bring the barbecue to those in need.
Saying that “we’re all together in this” DeStefano with the help of his family set up a tent on Chiquita Blvd where he light up the BBQ. He provided tens of hamburgers, hotdogs and even drinks for his neighbors to have a break before they start rebuilding.
The man hopes that other people will do the same and try helping those who need to recover after losing homes, cars or other property in the destructive tornado.
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