FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — The National Weather Service confirmed that two tornadoes touched down in the Fort Lauderdale area on Tuesday afternoon. One struck the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the other struck downtown Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday afternoon. A severe thunderstorm warning remained in effect for much of the afternoon. No injuries were reported.
Forecasters told Patch that one tornado touched down around 4:25 p.m. near the airport.
“Right now we had a touchdown on I-595 just east of I-95,” the National Weather Service told Patch on Tuesaday. Miami-Dade was not affected.
The airport tornado struck down along the northwestern side of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport near I-595, causing damage to cargo and storage containers in the FedEx facility on the north side of the airfield. The tornado then moved east-southeast along the airport’s northern taxiway, causing damage to a jet bridge on the north side of the terminal.
“The damage path becomes diffuse as it likely crossed Perimeter Road and US 1 along the immediate east side of the airport,” according to weather officials. “The tornado then moved into the extreme southern end of Port Everglades, where multiple cargo containers were flipped and damaged, along with eyewitness reports of Port-A-Johns being tossed about. The tornado then likely crossed the Intracoastal Waterway, and moved across the barrier island within Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Port before moving offshore into the Atlantic Ocean.”
The National Weather Service also confirmed that a weak tornado touched down in downtown Fort Lauderdale at 3:34 p.m. near Andrews Avenue and NE 5th Street, knocking over construction fencing and barriers.
“The tornado then moved southeast across Flagler Village, leading to minor tree damage in the vicinity of NE 1st Avenue and NE 4th Street,” weather officials said. “The tornado continued to move southeast, where video received via social media shows the circulation crossing US 1 approximately near NE 1st Street.”
Weather officials added that the circulation then appears to have lifted, before touching down south of the Tarpon River in the Rio Vista neighborhood.
“Several streets with tree damage and minor debris, including trash cans, were observed near SE 11th Avenue and SE 7th Street and Rio Vista Boulevard and SE 10th Street,” weather officials explained. “The tornado then likely crossed the south fork of the Tarpon River, where the damage path becomes diffuse as it moved across the SE 17th Street Causeway area and into the north end of Port Everglades, possibly briefly as a waterspout.”
Finally, the circulation is believed to have moved back onshore on the extreme north end of the barrier island near Nova Southeastern University Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography before moving out into the Atlantic Ocean near the entrance to Port Everglades.
The weather resulted in lengthy delays on all flights to and from the Fort Lauderdale airport, according to airport officials.
by Paul Scicchitano, Patch Staff | Apr 10, 2018 4:56 pm ET | Updated Apr 11, 2018 11:21 am ET
