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2 tornadoes leave thousands without power in Florida

EF2, EF1 tornadoes confirmed in Polk and Pinellas counties

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Two tornadoes damaged vehicles and buildings on Wednesday while leaving thousands without power in Florida’s Tampa Bay area and Polk County, authorities said.

Most of the damage was in Pinellas County, north of St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The same storm moved east Wednesday afternoon, threatening Hillsborough and Polk counties, but the National Weather Service eventually lifted tornado warnings for those areas.

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Another twister was also reported near Lakeland around 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The NWS later confirmed damages were caused by two tornadoes, an EF1 and stronger EF2, packing an estimated 125 mph wind speeds.

The Tampa Bay area tornado path stretched across nearly 13 miles and started in Plant City before heading into Polk County.

About 14,000 customers lost power, according to Duke Energy’s online outage map. The tornado started in Pinellas Park and traveled east across the county, the Weather Service said. A waterspout was spotted near a bridge moving toward the Tampa side of the bay.

Photos from after the storm show trees and fences knocked down and roofs damaged. An upside down pickup truck was spotted. No injuries were immediately reported.