PNJ: Surprise Tornado Spins Through Pensacola

Troy Moon Pensacola News Journal Pensacola News Journal Video

PENSACOLA -- This town is used to having a name to curse at.

You know -- Erin, Opal or that dreaded Ivan. Hurricanes, all.

But what do you call what happened Thursday?

You call it an EF-1 tornado. And you pray that we never meet the nameless nightmare again.

A tornado 150 yards wide and spinning mean winds around 100 mph stormed through the heart of Pensacola Thursday, ripping homes apart, shredding a church and its nearby daycare center, blowing windows out of vehicles and causing mayhem across a twisted path from Pensacola Naval Air Station to Cordova Mall.

No one was killed or seriously injured by the tornado, though one man broke three ribs when a home collapsed on him near downtown Pensacola and three other people suffered minor injuries.

Even those who suffered the most structural loss marveled that there was no lives lost or serious injuries.

"Everything damaged is replaceable,'' said the Rev. Lonnie Wesley III, pastor of Greater Little Rock Baptist Church on A Street, which was ripped and shredded by Thursday's twister. "We had employees in our Christian education building and children and our daycare. No one was hurt. God is good.''

Still, there was plenty of damage at the 10-year-old church structure. It's steeple was punched and missing pieces. A door leading to the main lobby was blown open, exposing the church to the rain and elements. The green metal roof was peeled away, with one large piece of roof wrapped around a telephone pole nearly a half-mile away. Insulation was torn and tattered and covered the church grounds and most of the surrounding neighborhood, making nearby streets look as if they were paved with yellow cotton candy.

In all, four homes were destroyed in Escambia County, while 24 houses received major damage and another 58 received minor damage. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Mobile said the tornado was an EF-1 tornado, which produces wind speeds from 86 to 110 miles per hour. All tornadoes receive an EF rating - known as the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The lowest-rated tornado is a category EF-1 tornado, which has winds from 65 to 85 miles per hour. At the other end of the scale, an EF-5 tornado has winds over 200 miles per hour.

Meteorologist John Purdy said the tornado formed near Pensacola Naval Air Station around 10:10 a.m., moving through Warrington before hitting downtown Pensacola around 10:18. The tornado then moved north near Ninth Avenue, causing damage at Cordova Mall, before receding around 10:25 a.m. near the Pensacola Regional Airport.

Purdy said there was only one confirmed tornado, but speculated that a water spout in the Gulf of Mexico might have made a stab at pushing onshore just after 8 a.m. at Pensacola Beach, causing some structural damage there.

Many people who witnessed the tornado said it caught them by surprise.

Mary Ponds, 58, owner of Tas-T-O Donuts & Sandwich Shop on E Street said she saw the tornado hanging from a ominous black cloud and head straight for her shop.

"I was looking out the window and it was coming right at me,'' she said, clutching her hand over her heart. "I could see debris flying in the air. I've seen tornadoes on TV, but never for real before. I just crawled under the counter on my knees and prayed.''

Just north of her shop, the tornado gnarled homes near Magee Field, and even ripped down a giant oak tree, sending its branches across a football goalpost that was bending toward the ground.

LaTosha and Percy Blackmon live just across the street from Magee Field and feared for their lives.

"We were sacred,'' said Percy Blackmon, 31. "There was trash blowing around. I never seen anything like that in my life.''

Nearby, there were downed powerlines and even parts of a garage blown into a road, as well as a destroyed satellite dish that sat off a side road near Martin Luther King Drive.

But the damage was everywhere the tornado had raced through just minutes earlier. A roof was damaged at Hallmark Elementary School, though all the school's students were moved to an interior location inside and no one was injured. At Cordova Mall, skylights were damaged, and the mall wing containing Belk's was closed because of roof damage. Over 20 cars in the parking lot at the nearby Target were damaged, while boats at marinas in Warrington were also destroyed.

"It sounded just like you've always heard - like a freight train,'' said Mark Walton, 32, who lives just off A Street near Little Rock Baptist Church. "It was just loud and sounded like the whole sky was caving in.''

Walton said his front porch received minor damage, but that a neighbor who had to rebuild a roof after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 had two busted windows and lost some roof shingles.

"Some of these people here are just now getting back on their feet,'' he said. "Some ain't back at all yet. We didn't need this.'' It wasn't just wind from the tornadoes that caused havoc Thursday.

Heavy rains pelted the Pensacola Bay Area, beginning before sunrise and lasting well into Thursday evening.

Most areas in Pensacola received about 6 inches of rain, Purdy said, while areas in Gulf Breeze received 8 to 10 inches. The storms knocked down powerlines across Pensacola, and early Thursday evening, about 2,700 Gulf Power customers were still without electricity. Three main feeder lines were knocked out by the storm, according to Gulf Power officials.

One transformer at Magee Field was on fire around noon time, as firefighters battled the small blaze in heavy rain.

For hurricane-tested weather warriors, Thursday's weather nightmare was an eye-opener.

"We're not used to tornadoes here,'' said Sonya Daniel, Escambia County spokesperson. "We're more prepared to handle hurricanes. For hurricanes, we always have plenty of time to start preparations. This, well, we had very little advance warning. We're very luck there were only four minor injuries.''

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