55 homes destroyed, 640 damaged
Heavy damage down Murat St from felled Pine trees from Tallahassee tornados of May 10, 2024. Courtesy, Adrian Holt
In the latest news about Tallahassee’s recent triple tornado spree, Leon County has opened applications for their $1 million microgrant for storm recovery, as some still wait in shelters with no power, weeks after the disaster. Around 142,000 North Florida residents lost power as the twisters and related high winds swept through the Panhandle in the early morning of May 10. Carolyn Benton, a Tallahassee resident, was killed in her bedroom when a tree fell on her house. Her friends and family remember her as an upstanding member of the community, always ready to serve and help others. Her passing is a stark reminder of the immediate and terrible danger of tornados, with this historic batch of EF-2 tornados pushing windspeeds of over 100 miles per hour and causing catastrophic damage throughout the city of Tallahassee and surrounding counties.
A car crushed by a tree, near Myers Park and Indianhead neighborhoods in Tallahassee
Governor DeSantis extended the state of emergency to 15 counties in Florida, requiring immediate action and coordinated effort. According to the official outage map, the total number of customers without power on the Tallahassee grid had dwindled from around 80,000 on May 10 to just under 10,000 by Monday the 13th and has fallen to single digits thanks to the crews of linemen (including those from other parts of Florida and the Southeast U.S.) working around the clock.
Now, the communities must pick up the pieces. Places like Railroad Square, Tallahassee’s burgeoning art district, took the brunt of the damage. The district now looks to the city and other crowdfunding platforms for help with demolition and reconstruction for the most affected buildings. In Leon County alone, 55 homes were destroyed, 640 damaged, and another 88 were otherwise affected by the disaster.
A crew begins roof reconstruction on the repurposed train station on Gaines St on May 13, 2024. Courtesy, Mike Rogers
“The storm just caught us so off guard,” said Tallahassee native Sandra Curry, who along with her disabled son, went to stay at a city shelter after three nights without power at home. “I had to put my pride aside and come. If the resources are here, we have to use them. We couldn’t sit in the dark and stay in the heat any longer,” she told the Tallahassee Democrat. Many community organizations have answered the call to help, too. The city of Tallahassee and Leon County are working with FEMA on a total damage assessment.
As with any catastrophe, the Department of Financial Services activated a Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team (DFAST) to Leon and Gadsden Counties to help educate the public on signs of fraud and to ensure contractor compliance in post-storm recovery and rebuilding. They are also urging the public to report questions, comments, or concerns to FraudFreeFlorida.com. We wish a speedy recovery to all those affected by the tornados, and extend a heartfelt thank you to all the responders and linemen that helped tens of thousands of our neighbors get back on their feet. You can view our complete collection of tornado damage pictures here.
LMA Newsletter of 5-28-24
