Panama City Tornadoes

[pcmud]

2 dead in first wave of tornadoes.
Have pics but no way to upload.

Twisters Strike Bay County - There's Major Problems

Two persons are dead as a string of tornados roared into Bay County late this afternoon. The twisters were spawned by Hurricane Ivan.

In all, there were about a dozen tornados in a little more than an hour, and they stretched from one end of the county to the other. One person died on Allenton Road in the Sandy Creek area when a twister demolished two houses. The second fatality came at Panama City Beach in an area off Thomas Drive near North Lagoon.

In addition, six people were injured including two Bay County sheriff’s deputies.

Damage was reported to be major in the area off Thomas Drive and North Lagoon Drive.

Sheriff Frank McKeithen told NewsChannel seven Hamilton’s restaurant was destroyed, a number of businesses and homes in that area were also demolished. McKeithen says two deputies were inside Hamiltons at the time the twiuster hit and had to hang on to keep from being sucked out of the building.

Other tornados were reported in Callaway in the area around South Berthe and Boatrace where damage was major… In parker south of Highway 22A there was another twister that caused damage… Harrison and 19th and Harrison at 7th, plus the area around the News Herald on West 11th Street also saw twisters.

Other tornados were reported near Wewahitchka and Overstreet in Gulf County where several different storms were sighted. A tornado was sighted near Highway 79 and Back Beach Road and several were in the Bayou George area.

A waterspout moved ashore at St. Joe Beach in Gulf County causing some minor damage.

A Curfew has been put into effect from 9 PM Wednesday night to 7 AM tomorrow morning here in Bay County

[/http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/1023406.html]

[CentralFloridaGal]

Stay safe, pcmud.

[weatherFrEaK]

Source?

[pcmud]

Source: WJHG-TV (my employer) and Bay Co. Sheriff's Office.

[weatherFrEaK]

Thank you. I need to confirm these before I share with other boards.

[Zadok]

Tornado Deaths - Panama City Area

News 13 On Your Side
Wednesday, September 15, 2004

A tornado generated by Hurricane Ivan touched down on Panama City Beach on Wednesday afternoon.

One death has been confirmed from this Panama City Beach tornado.

There is also another death reported in the Sandy Creek area of Callaway where two houses were reportedly flattened by another tornado. Bay County Sheriff's Office have now confirmed this 2nd death.

Bay County E.O.C. have also confirmed that some 70 homes and mobile homes near the intersection of Lance Street and Route 22a in Parker have been heavily damaged. There are many downed power lines in that area and residents are urged to remain where they are until they are cleared to move by emergency personnel on-scene.

These tornados were spawned by the first significant rain bands from Hurricane Ivan.

http://www.wmbb.com/servlet/Satellite?p ... 0486&path=

[B-Bear]

I can upload the pics if you can e-mail them to me.

[pcmud]

Need your email Bear.

[B-Bear]

[B-Bear]

[B-Bear]

[B-Bear]

[weatherFrEaK]

Good work!

[pcmud]

Twisters Strike Bay County - There's Major Problems

Two persons are dead as a string of tornados roared into Bay County late this afternoon. The twisters were spawned by Hurricane Ivan.

In all, there were about a dozen tornados in a little more than an hour, and they stretched from one end of the county to the other. One person died on Allenton Road in the Sandy Creek area when a twister demolished two houses. The second fatality came at Panama City Beach in an area off Thomas Drive near North Lagoon.

In addition, six people were injured including two Bay County sheriff’s deputies.

Damage was reported to be major in the area off Thomas Drive and North Lagoon Drive.

Sheriff Frank McKeithen told NewsChannel seven Hamilton’s restaurant was destroyed, a number of businesses and homes in that area were also demolished. McKeithen says two deputies were inside Hamiltons at the time the twiuster hit and had to hang on to keep from being sucked out of the building.

Other tornados were reported in Callaway in the area around South Berthe and Boatrace where damage was major… In parker south of Highway 22A there was another twister that caused damage… Harrison and 19th and Harrison at 7th, plus the area around the News Herald on West 11th Street also saw twisters.

Other tornados were reported near Wewahitchka and Overstreet in Gulf County where several different storms were sighted. A tornado was sighted near Highway 79 and Back Beach Road and several were in the Bayou George area.

A waterspout moved ashore at St. Joe Beach in Gulf County causing some minor damage.

A Curfew has been put into effect from 9 PM Wednesday night to 7 AM tomorrow morning here in Bay County

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/1023406.html

[ZZ3Astro]

I got a wake up call this evening... it started out with the dry air entering the storm from the southwest. It looked like we were going to get just one feeder band and only wind after that. I was beginning to question the decision of sending the family up to Huntsville to face possible inland flooding and tornados....

I went out to ride around before the squal was going to hit. People were everywhere, standing outside apartments just hanging out. I checked the surge and the marina where my boat is. I found a Mexican place open and went for a late lunch. It was good too.. so then back to the house to watch conditions. My backup plan was to go to the police dept that I do work for... IF things got ugly.

Back at home the wx radio kicked on with tornado warnings. I brought up Weather Tap to check radial velocity. I don't have access to the image I saved (you'll see why in a minute) but it was a huge return 19nm south of my house. With the direction of movement being NW, no problem with that one. Then more started up. Well aware of the situation developing outside, I started prepping to head to the police dept. All other tornado warnings I've experienced in the past have never materialized. One after another, no tornado.

A friend called and distracted me from the Weather Tap screen. I had been watching one not too far away when the phone rang. I was going to peek outside to see the conditions when something slammed the house like a large branch. I ran to my safe spot (windowless room in middle of house) and before I could get under the counter, more debris was hitting the house. As my ears popped, it sounded like the roof was tearing away. My ears popped a second time and and I could hear the rush of wind outside. The garage door was making noise and the power went off at that moment. More debris sounds from the roof and then it quickly stopped.

I quickly gathered my stuff and headed out as soon as I checked the radar again to make sure nothing else was on the way. Now I'm at the PD and what a night it has been.

The city of Parker was next in the path of the tornado that stuck my neighborhood. Confirmed one complete loss of roof at a storage complex. I've heard 70 houses damaged but not confirmed. I did see one house with at least 3 mature pines through the roof.

I had my video camera with me during the strike... I don't know if I recorded all of it or part or whatever. If I find it, I'll post it... not much to see, just some interesting audio.

Good news, no damage to my house. The roof parts I heard were from some other location. big sections of shingles were hitting my roof and dragging.. Horrible sound that makes. We did lose our privacy fence and some limbs. Few houses down lost a big part of their roof.

Don't want to do this again any time soon!

If you hear a tornado warning, especially if other tornados have been in the area, seek safe shelter quickly. From the first indication of trouble to full blast was about 15 seconds.

[tronbunny]

OMG!
thank you for your detailed account.
Stay safe!


btw: I noticed that you didn't even use the words "I seen it..."