Will GreenleeTreasure Coast Newspapers
MARTIN COUNTY − A team of meteorologists confirmed Wednesday evening an EF 1 category tornado touched down earlier in the day in the Hobe Sound and Jupiter Island areas.
“It looks like it touched down just west of U.S. 1,” said meteorologist Cassie Leahy of the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
Wind speeds were between 85 and 90 mph.
The tornado continued along Southeast Bridge Road and crossed the river into Jupiter Island. Several fallen trees on roadways in the area were attributed to the tornado.
Travel along some roadways in the area was impacted and electricity to nearly 40,000 residents was outearlier in the day. Byroughly 2 p.m., 1,700 remained without power, fire officials said on social media.
Leahy said the team was working to further assess the extent of the storm and its damage.
Flood advisories, damage in Martin, St. Lucie counties
Heavy rains from early morning storms into the afternoon led to flood advisories in areas of southeast St. Lucie and Martin counties, and downpours in Indian River County, said meteorologist Zach Law, with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Melbourne.
Martin County Fire Rescue earlier in the day reported possible tornado damage around a Winn-Dixie supermarket in the 8800 block of Southeast Bridge Road, with damage at homes in nearby neighborhoods.
A pick-up was pushed onto railroad tracks along Dixie Highway by Bridge Road, and a train signal and crossing arm also were damaged, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
A portion of Bridge Road east of U.S. 1 was closed after banyan trees were damaged.
Jupiter Island was inaccessible at Bridge Road because of downed trees, but crews were working to clear the road, Fire Rescue officials said in a social media post around noon.
'All of the sudden ... things started banging around'
Paul Feinsinger arrived at a home he uses for his accounting business at Southeast Anstis Place and Dixie Highway about 10:30 a.m. to do some work. The location is east of the Winn-Dixie plaza, just north of Bridge Road.
“All of the sudden the warning came through, the tornado warning,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
He said he was in his office working with a fax machine.
“All of the sudden the wind started blowing, things started banging around,” Feinsinger said. “I got down on the floor and within about 2 or 3 minutes it passed.”
Trees were blown down in the backyard of the property he purchased in 1980 for his business and screens and windows blown out. The interior of the office was strewn with paper and office supplies after the weather event.
“I’ve been here since 1970, and been through hurricanes and things like that, but there’s nothing like this,” he said. “This is crazy.”
A short walk west of Feinsinger’s business, David Anderson stood in front of a damaged home. He runs his landscape company out of it and his mother-in-law lives there.
He wasn’t there at the time, but got a call from his alarm company indicating the garage door opened.
“I got here and it was blown in and that's when we found out the roof is dropped on the inside,” Anderson said. “It's leaking all over the place.”
He said parts of his roof are in the backyard, and on the side of the single-story home. No one was hurt, he said.
“It destroyed the whole nursery behind us,” he said.
A coconut tree was knocked down as was his fence. He said he was working to determine what to do next, though he had ordered a Dumpster.
“My wife came and the kids and we just cleaned out all the important stuff and moved everything out and they're all out of here now,” he said. “I’m just standing here wonderingwhere to start.”
Elizabeth Martin said she and her husband own Diamond Transfer & Garage just south of Feinsinger’s business. She said she was there at the time the weather event came through.
“It was very strong wind and rain,” Martin said. “And then I looked out and my truck had been blown across the street.”
The Ford truck, she said, had been deposited onto railroad tracks on the opposite side of Dixie Highway.
“I called 911 and told them to please keep my car from getting hit by the train,” she said.
Martin said they flagged down a wrecker and lifted the truck off the tracks.
Martin said the business was OK, though some downed vegetation and other debris was in the area.
“Mostly just clean-up,” she said.
Hobe Sound Elementary sustained some damage Wednesday morning, temporarily losing power. Power was restored to the campus by 1:30 p.m. Maintenance crews spent the afternoon assessing damage, Martin County schools spokeswoman Jennifer DeShazo said in a text message.
The 87 students attending summer programs at the school were transported to Port Salerno Elementary so parents would have a safe place to pick up their children, DeShazo said. No injuries were reported.
“Everyone remained safe during the worst part of the storm,” DeShazo said.
Rain came down in sheets
A deluge of rain began falling in the Stuart area Wednesday morning, leaving standing water on a number of roadways.
Isolated rainfall amounts of 3½ to 4½ inches were reported in areas from Port St. Lucie to Stuart, said Law.
With more rainfall expected throughout Wednesday, he said, “Those totals across Martin County might be increasing.”
Roughly 1½ inches of rain had been reported in Vero Beach since around midnight Tuesday. In Indian River County, though, rain stopped and hazy sun peaked through the clouds in the afternoon.
Law said to expect similar rainy conditions in the immediate forecast.
“In general, we’re expecting some redevelopment of showers and thunderstorms,” Law said. “…Some localized areas could get another 2 to 3 inches of rain.
“We kind of expect this pattern to continue … throughout the rest of the workweek,” he said.
Weather radar tracking storms
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TCPalm reporters Corey Arwood and Colleen Wixon contributed to this report.
Will Greenleeis a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X@OffTheBeatTweetor reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him atwill.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
