Tornado touches down in Fort Lauderdale near Las Olas, officials say
A tornado touched down in Fort Lauderdale just west of where Las Olas Boulevard crosses the Intracoastal Waterway Saturday evening, officials say, damaging boats, homes and power lines before moving into the ocean. No injuries have been reported.
Videos shared by residents on social media show the large tornado moving close to the downtown area, sparks and flames in its wake.
The tornado formed over land just before 6 p.m. according to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Garrett Pingol. As it gained strength, it “made contact with some structures, power lines and marine vessels in that immediate area” before moving east until it hit the ocean.
Fire Rescue responded to calls about a damaged boat on Las Olas Circle and a home with roof damage on Southeast 10th Street, Pingol said. First responders checked boats within the Las Olas basin and determined that no one had been injured.
They then performed “an extensive area assessment” from Bahia Mar up to Sunrise Boulevard to find that, as of 7:30 p.m., no one was injured or displaced, and there was no significant property damage, though some boats had minor damage.
According to Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steve Glassman, the tornado touched down close to Fire Station 49, and moved north along State Road A1A, forcing people nearby to shelter at the station.
By about 6:30 p.m., the storm had dissipated, he said. The power was on, and residents were outside of their homes.
The National Weather Service confirmed reports and radar indicating that a possible tornado moved near Federal Highway and Las Olas, though it announced that it would not make an official determination on the tornado until Sunday, when investigators perform an assessment.
The weather service issued a tornado warning about 5:45 p.m. due to rotation on the radar, and the reports starting coming in after that, according to meteorologist Chris Fisher.
Jeff Turk was on his boat at Bahia Mar Marina when they got the warnings to seek cover. But they didn’t have anywhere to go.
He and his wife watched the tornado move by, apparently over the Intracoastal, then west of the Swimming Hall of Fame, as something exploded, sparks and debris flying everywhere. They think the explosion was a transformer.
Determining that the tornado wasn’t going to hit him and his wife “head on,” Turk decided to film and watch instead.
“The funniest part is, you get a warning saying ‘seek shelter, head to a basement,’ you know, and we’re sitting here on a boat and there’s no basements in Florida, or a boat,” he said.
Turk wasn’t scared, but he worried for the tourists at the bars and restaurants along A1A and Fort Lauderdale Beach.
“Where are they going to go for shelter?” he asked.
Craig Setzer, a local weatherman, shared a video on X of the tornado hurtling by, east of downtown Fort Lauderdale.
“Was watching the signature on the radar and it looked like it would be close,” he wrote. “Boy was it.”
