Miami Area Pounded with High Winds, Thousands Awoke Without Power

MIAMI — The National Weather Service lifted a severe weather threat for the Miami area early Monday morning but only after roofs collapsed on apartment buildings, a storage shed flew through the air and thousands of people in Miami-Dade County awoke without power.

At 11:15 a.m. Florida Power and Light was reporting more than 4,700 Miami-Dade customers were still without power. By 2 p.m., the number had dropped to 3,400 customers and by 10:30 p.m. the number was down to fewer than 800 while slightly less than 500 were without power in nearby Broward County and fewer than 100 in Palm Beach County.

"I do not have an estimated time of restoration; however, crews are working to get everyone’s lights on safely and as quickly as possible," FPL spokesman Bill Orlove told Patch on Monday.

There was a report of a backyard shed sailing through the air and coming to rest two homes over in one neighborhood, while a boat parked on land was also carried by the high winds and a Miami Springs park suffered extensive damage to multiple tee ball fields.

The National Weather Service in Miami confirmed that a tornado touched down in parts of Miami Springs and Hialeah overnight Sunday into Monday morning.

Orlove added that FPL crews and contractors had already restored power to more than 110,000 customers in 35 counties throughout Florida by late morning.

The National Weather Service lifted its severe weather threat at 4:54 a.m. It said that Miami area residents could expect breezy conditions for the rest of Monday with possible gusty showers in the afternoon.

One apartment roof collapse occurred in Doral sometime after 3 a.m. Tenants told a television news crew that the high winds sounded like a freight train.

"We could feel like a hail storm going through the window hitting it very hard. You could feel like the roof was coming off," one man told NBC 6.

Meanwhile, a similar collapse occurred in Hialeah, where one resident said that his apartment ceiling crashed down on his five-year-old daughter's bed. Fortunately, the girl was not in the bed at the time, according to her father.

"I think God protected us from anything happening," the man told Local 10 news. "I'm not lucky. We are blessed."

The National weather service had issued a tornado watch and severe weather threat for the greater Miami area and Broward County overnight starting at about 1 a.m Monday morning as a strong cold front moved through on Sunday night.

The worst conditions in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale occurred between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. while in nearby Palm Beach County the worst conditions occurred between 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.

Miami Beach police advised motorists to pull over if their vehicle was hit by flying debris during the storm. "If your vehicle is hit by debris while driving, pull over and park," police said ahead of the storm. "Stay in the car, put your head down below the windows; cover your head."

Miami Beach police also said that officials offered shelter to the city's homeless community overnight Sunday ahead of the storm.

Photo by National Weather Service.