OCALA, Fla. — A 105-mph tornado tore a 1-mile-long path northwest of Ocala on Sunday, forecasters confirmed.
- Tornado confirmed cause of damage in Marion, forecasters say
- Severe weather knocked out power across Central Florida Sunday
- Tornado cut mile-long path, National Weather Service says
- RELATED:
Cleanup continued Monday morning after scattered storms slammed areas of north Central Florida, causing extensive tree damage.
As of the afternoon, residents affected by the tornado were still waiting on crews to come help with the damage.
A Marion County thoroughbred horse ranch called J's Ranch incurred considerable damage.
John Zylo is one of the owners of J's Ranch and said he watched the tornado just as it formed.
"It kept going back and forth, back and forth, like it wasn't going to leave, and it just kept ripping stuff apart," Zylo said.
The farm’s prized thoroughbred horses almost got hit, too. A hay feeder flew 100 yards near the stable.
"It took off from there and caught the corner of the trailer," Zylo said.
Zylo was most worried about his 85-year-old mother trapped inside the trailer. He said the tornado started to pick the RV off the ground, damaging the stabilizing jacks.
He said his mother had a heart attack.
"Luckily, they got her to the hospital where she's listed in stable condition," Zylo said.
Marty Williams' 12-acres of property near Ocala was covered with storm damage, with massive trees uprooted.
"You see all the broken trees out in the field, and it took this path right through our property and demolished every tree in its path," Williams said.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville said Monday classified the tornado as an EF-1. It was about 80-100 yards wide, carving a path through trees.
NWS officials described reports of mobile homes being lifted off their foundations.
"An area around State Road 40 is where it started. (It) crossed that intersection and went northeast from there, and the total path length of the tornado was about a mile long, (with the) greatest width approximately 80 to 100 yards at its greatest, and its greatest strength was between 95 and 105 mph based on those damage indicators," said Scott Cordero with the NWS.
The data gathered by the NWS will be analyzed for information, including for homeowners insurance.
Sunday's storms also caused extensive power outages across Central Florida.
In Orange County, at least two bounce houses blew over, and one child was injured. Orange County Fire Rescue confirmed that it responded to a home on North Cottage Hill just after 3 p.m. when a child was hurt by a bounce house that had blown over.
"We transported one child for minor injuries," a fire rescue spokesman said. "Apparently the wind came up fast, and the kids hadn’t cleared out yet and blew the house around a bit and the one child was hurt. (There was) one child inside at the time, and it rolled over."
The other bounce house blew over at Festival Park, but no one was injured.
