Tornado in Florida flips cars, causes widespread damage

North Palm Beach, Fla. — A tornado rolled through the Palm Beach Gardens area, north of Miami, on Saturday afternoon, causing widespread damage in some neighborhoods and forcing residents to take cover.

Branches flew dangerously in the wind, and trees collapsed on vehicles in the neighborhood of Sanctuary Cove in nearby North Palm Beach. The roof of one apartment building blew off, while at least one apartment door was blasted away by the gale. The storm also shattered windows of homes and cars, damaging a large construction vehicle and blowing away a park bench.

The National Weather Service said that the tornado had an estimated wind speed of at least 100 miles per hour, and that it would probably make a final determination Sunday.

First responders were at the scene quickly, residents said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The North Palm Beach fire department and Florida's Division of Emergency Management did not immediately return requests for comment late Saturday.

Fresh tornado warnings were issued for several parts of Florida on Sunday morning, including for Palm Beach County, St. Lucie County and Martin County. The National Weather Service is warning that mobile homes could be damaged or destroyed and damage to roofs, windows and vehicles could occur.

Images posted on social media showed a car being flipped by strong winds in the pouring rain and a wind funnel sweeping across North Palm Beach.

Across the state, thousands of customers were without power as of 10:30 p.m., according to PowerOutage.us.

The United States logs more than 1,000 tornadoes annually, more than any other country in the world. Its geography and climate make it particularly susceptible.

The most deadly tornado in recent years occurred in 2011, when a storm that tore through Joplin, Mo., killed more than 150 people. Last month, a tornado in rural Mississippi devastated mobile homes and killed at least two dozen.