ORLANDO, Fla. – A strong storm whipped through Orlando Thursday afternoon, wreaking havoc in some communities.
Near Thorton Avenue and South Street, a tree snapped and fell into the road — but not before taking a couple of power lines down with it.
That caused some residents to lose electricity in their homes for at least an hour.
Orlando police say that no one was hurt, and power has been restored.
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Just a few miles away in downtown Orlando, the weather caused a big scare for two window washers.
Darrell Beausivoir lives downtown. He said he was working in his apartment when he heard calls for help coming from across the street. He didn’t think much of it until he came to his window.
“Once I saw rain and a lot of wind, I mean, it looked like a hurricane,” Beausivoir said.
Then, he saw two workers on a platform connected to The Vue at Lake Eola, a high-rise apartment complex.
“You could see the stand that they were on like moving away toward the window and swinging like crazy,” he said.
Orlando fire crews rushed to the location after they were alerted. Crews shut the roads down and prepared to perform a tactical rescue.
On arrival, Orlando Fire Department District Fire Chief Spencer Bashinski learned the two workers managed to climb onto a nearby balcony to take cover.
“I don’t think they had a choice,” Bashinski said. “I think the storm may have caught them off guard, and they made the best decision they could at the time.”
Fire crews ran into the building.
“Our members went up the elevator through the inside and quickly gained access to that apartment on the ninth floor, both of them inside. From there, we brought everybody down,” Bashinski said.
The workers were not hurt, and nothing was damaged.
Fire crews suggest employees carrying out jobs like this to continuously monitor the weather.
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