On Friday morning I was out working in my yard. It was overcast and rumbling and 'spitting' a bit. At a certain point the siren to warn people to get off the golf course went off - this is common in the summer months when we have frequent thunderstorms but less so at this time of year. I looked to the sky and thought, maybe I better get inside, but let me just plant this one last plant in case we get rain, it will be so grateful. So I did, and a few minutes later I went inside. Less than two minutes after there was an incredibly violent downpour with horizontal rain and very strong (hurricane force to my eye) winds. The power went off.
It lasted less than 4 minutes. We had about 3 inches off water standing on our lanai, and when I came outside I realized that literally THOUSANDS of the huge Royal Palm fronds were littering the streets. It turned out there had been a waterspout - then tornado, directly over our area. It stayed at tree top level and did its most damage there, or our house could have been blown to smithereens.
THIS is why I fear tornadoes. There was absolutely NOTHING to indicate that anything this violent was about to descend on us. If I had dawdled a little longer outside I could well have been hurt by flying debris.
The cleanup is still ongoing. Those palm fronds are huge and heavy.
