NWS confirms F1 tornado touched down; Homeowners assess damage

CENTRAL FLORIDA — Residents of central Florida spent Tuesday cleaning up a tornado touched down in Volusia County as severely hit the surrounding counties.

On Tuesday, the National Weather Service confirmed that it was a tornado that did damage in Volusia County Monday evening.

The tornado was an EF-1 with winds of 95 to 110 mph. The storm traveled a 1-mile path and was 150 yards wide, according to the weather service.

World War II veteran Robert Mason came outside to find two much younger men pulling his boat and trailer off his Edgewater mobile home.

"The boat was on the trailer and the boat wound up standing on end," said Mason. "They're doing a heck of a job to help the people out here. I really appreciate it."

Ten homes in the Terra Mar Village mobile home community were declared unlivable, and at least 30 others were damaged by the tornado.

"I was sitting inside watching the TV and as soon as I heard that roaring sound, I knew exactly what it was. I headed right to the bathroom, went down in the bathtub and everything just exploded. Only lasted about a minute," said one homeowner.

WFTV was there as Charles and Judy Russell surveyed the damage to their home.

Charles Russell said he thought the clouds had passed when his home was hit.

"Then I heard this roar and I run to the door and I said, 'Judy, hit the floor,'" he said. "The doorway is all out, it took the roof off, I guess part of the roof, both porches. We can't open the back door."

Fishing Captain Drew Cavough said he captured the video as he was driving along U.S. 1 in Edgewater when the funnel dropped down.

"That looks like a funnel cloud trying to form right there. Oh my God, I think it is! Oh my God it is! Right in the road!" said Cavough.

Trees and twisted metal littered the streets of the Terra Mar subdivision Tuesday.

"Everything was flying. I looked out my bed … I was in my bedroom. I looked out my door … my Florida room was gone," said homeowner Jackie Kingland.

Other homeowners found the roof of their mobile home wrapped around a tree or their carport collapsed.

The strong storm also left debris in the streets and brought down power lines, leaving the neighborhood in darkness.

Some residents who weren't at home at the time had to wait hours to return.

"I was at work and I took a phone call from my husband and he said, 'It's not good. You need to come home now,'" said resident Allyson Staley.

Despite the damage, officials said no one was hurt.

County officials were onsite Tuesday morning assessing damage to the homes, and Florida Power and Light workers were busy trying to restore power to residents.

Volusia County was one of five counties under a tornado warning Monday afternoon.

By 6:15 p.m., the storms were moving offshore and all of the tornado warnings had expired.

The Red Cross is working with the families whose homes were severely damaged to find them another place to live.

Do you have pictures or videos of Monday's severe weather? You can submit them to our iWitness section

WFTV