Recovery Continues in Tornado-Stricken Florida

Feb. 3, 2007 — -- After violent thunderstorms and at least one tornado destroyed a swath of central Florida and left at least 20 people dead on early Friday, the recovery effort is continuing this morning.

The death toll keeps rising and authorities are now searching more for bodies than for survivors. The hurricanes that have hit Florida in recent years have done more damage, but this tornado has been far more deadly because it came without warning.

Through the night, emergency crews scrambled to restore basic services upended by the massive tornado. It is an all-too-familiar routine for linemen, who know too much about the power of nature, specifically hurricanes and tornadoes, in Florida.

The devastation covers a path 70 miles long, stretching from Central Florida to the Atlantic Coast.

The tornado struck in the middle of the night in a part of the state with no hurricane sirens. Only people listening to TV or radio had any warning, but most people were asleep.

"I was in bed in the front bedroom," said Bonnie Klimes, who was in the path of the storm. "I heard a big noise in my room and a hole came in through my ceiling."

With so much practice from the barrage of hurricanes that have assaulted Florida in recent years, emergency crews and government officials were quick to respond.

"I learned that during the hurricanes, and I think it's important to continue to do that so we have a real sense of what people are dealing with, to get the help they need as quickly as possible," said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

Crist has asked President Bush to declare the area a major disaster area. The director of FEMA is expected to tour the area today.

As always, mobile homes were particularly vulnerable. Ken and Marylou Potts and were asleep when a deafening sound woke them.

"I started looking for my wife and my dog," Ken Potts said. "Then I found them in the closet so I got down in the tub."

The couple now has a new respect for nature's fury.

"It's that freight train everybody talks about when it happens," Mary Potts said.