Cape Coral folks (Orlando: power lines, houses, new construction)

[03bluecoupe]

I hope you all are ok down there. Sadly, a lot of damage.

[TamRE]

I was looking at the photos and news videos on Facebook. There is a lot of damage for some folks. I can't believe how cars and vans got flipped over. I am sure in the coming days we will see much more on our news. The community will be right there to help everyone though.

[Icemodeled]

I seen pictures of damage on a news site. A lot of clean up but doesnt sound like any injuries or deaths thankfully.

Are tornadoes common this time of year?

[Travelassie]

From the news media I have seen the damage seems mostly to be downed trees and some power lines, maybe some roof or structural damage where trees or power lines hit them when they fell, shingles blown off roofs, gutters down but not major structural damages.

This kind of weather, including the tornadoes is unusual for Florida in the winter. Usually it's dry and sunny, the kind of weather snowbirds flock to the state for. This weather pattern is reportedly associated with the strong El Nino pattern in the pacific and is forecast to continue this winter. I recall the same type of weather with the strong storms in the winter of 1998, but not since then.

Here's a little reading material on the topic:

Orlando Sentinel

[SeaRay35]

There actually was some major structural damage to a few homes. Roofs and plywood came off in the direct touchdown area, cars thrown into houses a mess in a small area:

[nancyf]

Guess where we live in Oklahoma....Moore...the tornado magnet town. And now this hits just south of where we are thinking about building and living...is this some sort of sign?

[davephan]

Does anyone know the approximate cost to have a storm shelter added to an existing home or new construction? I wouldn't feel at ease having to try to hunker down inside a bathtub if a tornado was nearby.

[froglipz]

Originally Posted by davephan

Does anyone know the approximate cost to have a storm shelter added to an existing home or new construction? I wouldn't feel at ease having to try to hunker down inside a bathtub if a tornado was nearby.

Here is a solution for around $4k

Storm Shelters | Tornado Shelters | Survive-a-Storm

[Nashguy381]

We have a new group on Facebook called Hip Cape Coral...community based reccomendations, questions, concerns, and picture sharing...Join us!

[Living the Florida Dream]

Thankfully, there appear to be no major injuries from the tornado. We drove past the damaged area near Beach Pkwy and Chiquita Blvd, and many trees were uprooted. It will be a long clean-up for some people. It was heart-warming to see so many people volunteering and helping out their neighbors.