The storm that rolled through Central Florida on Sunday left some damage, downed trees and power outages in parts of Marion County – and at least one resident reporting her farm being hit by a tornado.
Jennifer N. Williams, who lives near NW 110th Avenue and State Road 40, said her farm was destroyed.
“We witnessed a tornado come directly across the field toward our home and it destroyed everything in its path,” she wrote on the Marion County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page on Sunday afternoon. “Its path is extremely visible, as it took down everything in it in a direct straight line. It busted out the inside glass on our two-paned windows from the pressure and knocked a tree over on our home. It’s a mess out here!”
The sheriff’s office posted several photos of damage on its website and many other area residents also weighed in with their thoughts on the afternoon thunderstorm. One reported seeing damage on 100th Avenue off State Road 40, while another resident in southwest Ocala said the storm snapped her flagpole in half.
“It was treacherous for sure,” wrote Lisa McClure.
Resident William Christopher said he was getting ready for his son’s first horse show when the storm hit. He said he was told that a tree fell near the entrance to the farm where the show was being held on Hwy. 326 west of U.S. Hwy. 27.
“Luckily they had it moved within 20 minutes,” he said.
Resident Shawna Barkley reported high winds in her area.
“I watched our neighbors trash cans get picked up and thrown across the lot next to them,” she said. “Pretty intense storms came through.”
Linda Mania, who was in church when the weather turned bad, agreed.
“It looked like midnight out,” she said. “I got drenched down to the skin when I came out of church.”
The sheriff’s office is encouraging all Marion County residents to sign up for severe weather alerts. To do so, visit www.alertmarion.com.