Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 1:27 – Parts of Florida were cleaning up after record rainfall and at least three tornadoes touched down on Tuesday.
Record rainfall swamped the city of Vero Beach on Tuesday, with streets and roads closed by flooding.
The National Weather Service recorded 11.22 inches of rainfall at Vero Beach, making Tuesday the wettest day since records began in 1942. The previous wettest day record for the city was 8.82 inches, set on January 21, 1957, according to the Melbourne NWS office.
Numerous cars had to be pulled out of flood waters, the Associated Press reported. Raymond Wood, a driver with Mike’s Wrecker Service, told the agency the company pulled about 15 cars throughout the day.
Classes were canceled Vero Beach High School Wednesday because of water damage, WPBF reported.
Severe storms also spawned several funnel clouds across the Sunshine State, Tuesday. This funnel cloud shown below was spotted over Fort Pierce following a tornado warning and severe storms in St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
The strong winds smashed windows and ripped apart the roof of one home, according to CBS Miami.
One woman’s trailer was also destroyed, WSVN reported. “I think I’m going to be Dorothy and Toto. Oh my God, terrifying,” she told the news agency. “Absolutely terrifying ’cause I heard the crash of that one falling down, but I didn’t know what it was. Just that our whole RV was shaking back and forth.”
A flood warning was in effect for Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee counties through Wednesday night.
Dalia Ibrahim
Digital Reporter
Picture: NWSMelbourne
