The National Weather Service has released intensity information on the storms that tore through Sarasota and Manatee counties Sunday.
RUSKIN, FL — As people in Manatee and Sarasota counties begin the recovery process following the Sunday touchdown of tornadoes in both Florida communities, the National Weather Service in Ruskin has released the details of its damage assessment.
Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016’s severe weather moved in during the early morning hours, producing two tornadoes. One cut through the Manatee County community of Duette, killing two and injuring five before it was through. The other left an estimated $3 million in damage and two injuries in its wake as it traveled from Siesta Key into Sarasota.
The preliminary damage estimates reveal in numbers the intensity of Sunday’s storms:
The weather service says this tornado started at 3:35 a.m. and ran a 9.2-mile course through northern Manatee County’s Duette community before dissipating at 3:48 a.m. The details on the storm’s intensity are as follows:
- Tornado rating – EF2
- Estimated peak wind – 127 mph
- Maximum path width – 300 yards
That tornado destroyed a single-wide mobile home and a 2,000-square-foot barn. Steven Wilson, 58, and Kelli Wilson, 51, were killed when the tornado tore through their home. Four children and Steven M. Wilson, 38, were injured.
This tornado started in Siesta Key at 3:17 a.m. and ran a 1.14-mile path into Sarasota before dissipating at 3:22 a.m. The details on the tornado’s intensity are as follows:
- Tornado rating – EF2
- Estimated peak wind – 132 mph
- Maximum path width – 350 yards
The Sarasota County tornado left two injuries in its wake and damaged multiple homes and buildings in its path. “One home on Siesta Key had the second floor collapse,” the weather service report noted. “That caused the two injuries. The width of the tornado began at 350 yards when it moved onshore at the beach and narrowed to around 100 yards as it moved across the Intercoastal Waterway.”
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