Reports of a possible tornado touching down in Downtown Fort Lauderdale
FORT LAUDERDALE — A tornado reportedly touched down in Downtown Fort Lauderdale on Saturday evening, shortly after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area.
Just before 6 p.m., a tornado formed over land and touched down just west of Las Olas Boulevard and the Intracoastal Waterway. As the tornado gained strength, it made contact with some structures, power lines and marine vessels in the immediate area, Fort Lauderdale Police told CBS News Miami.
The tornado then quickly moved east until it reached the ocean and no longer impacted the land or the ICW. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue then responded to calls of a damaged vessel at 1 Las Olas Circle and a damaged home at 1733 SE 10th Street. One fireboat and land-based units checked the vessels within the Las Olas basin and discovered that no people were injured, and nobody was in distress. However, the land units found roof damage at a nearby home. Property and vessel damage have not displaced any people at this time, FLPD told CBS News Miami.
The City of Fort Lauderdale stated X (formerly known as Twitter), saying there have been no reports of injuries so far and FLFR crews are assessing the damage, which appears to be minor at this time.
An apparent tornado touched down earlier this evening near Las Olas and the Intracoastal. There have been no reports of injuries so far. Fort Lauderdale Fire crews are assessing the damage, which appears to be minor.
The public should be cautious of any debris and downed power… pic.twitter.com/hP6L5gmRMM
— City of Fort Lauderdale (@FTLCityNews) January 7, 2024
“The public should be cautious of any debris and downed power lines in the area,” the city stated.
Police also told CBS News Miami that FLFR performed an extensive area assessment from the area of Bahia Mar north to Sunrise Boulevard to further confirm that there were no injuries or other structures significantly damaged.
According to several videos shared on X, a funnel cloud formed above downtown Fort Lauderdale and made a touchdown in the area. Some of the videos found also showed the funnel cloud causing some sort of explosion as it spun.
CBS News Miami’s NEXT Weather team is working on confirming the tornado, as their radar did pick up on wind rotation around 5:45 p.m. with severe weather blowing through the area.
CBS News Miami has a crew heading to the area to investigate further. Please stay safe and indoors, and stay tuned to CBS News Miami online and on-air as we continue providing updates.
