Today marks the 5th annivesary of one of the worst tornado outbreaks in Central Florida. 21 died.

Sadly, the tornadoes hit in the middle of the night. I remember being on Channel 9 with Tom Terry. It was about 3 in the morning and we were doing what we could to relay the danger, and praying that folks had weather radios and their TVs on.

I'll never forget when we saw spotted the clear hook signature on the radar, which signifies a strong likelihood of a tornado. We shot each other a quick glance. We both knew. We knew there was a strong tornado on the ground and we just hoped it wouldn't find homes. But it did, and the images, to this day, are still haunting.

Our friends at the National Weather Service have a look back at the path, intensity and pictures of the tornadoes from 5 years ago.

-Brian Shields