Tornado sweeps through Greater Miami area, causing widespread damage

Tornado rolls through Palm Beach Gardens, Florida - The Washington Post

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.

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

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

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 tornados annually, or more than any other country in the world. Its geography and climate make it particularly susceptible to such twisters.

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

Masih reported from Seoul.