It began as a deep, powerful EF-3 tornado over the vast, flat emptiness of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge west of Delray Beach. Spawned by feeder bands of Hurricane Milton, it roared northeast at freight-train speed toward the Village of Wellington, where it touched down at 4:51 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9, according to the National Weather Service.
It wrecked homes, trees and cars there, then crossed six lanes of busy Southern Blvd. before ripping a gash through the Town of Loxahatchee Groves, The Acreage and the new Avenir development along Northlake Blvd. before finally lifting back into a whirl of clouds near Interstate 95 in Jupiter Farms at 5:21 p.m.
Along a path that meteorologists say was 20 to 30 miles long and 300 yards wide in places, hundreds of homes, cars and other vehicles were damaged or destroyed.
“A tornado traversed through the Town of Loxahatchee Groves, causing damage as it moved through the area,” town officials reported in a press release the next day. “This damage included uprooted and snapped trees, overturned RVs and trucks, and downed power lines. After impacting the town, the tornado continued into The Acreage.”
In The Acreage, a semi-rural area of some 17,000 homes in an unincorporated section of the county, more homes and vehicles were damaged, trees were snapped off or blown over. Limbs and other debris blocked roads, and there were widespread power outages.
At least three animal shelters — Big Dog Ranch Rescue, McCarthy’s Wildlife Sanctuary and Panther Ridge Conservation Center — received significant damage.
The recently renovated pier at Coconut Park near the corner of Coconut and Northlake boulevards was ripped out and thrown into the Avenir neighborhood.
“It’s just devastation where the tornado came through,” said Betty Argue, a member of the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors, the next morning.
“Houses have lost roofs, horse barns are destroyed… trees with roots 25 feet wide are torn out,” she said as she surveyed damage. “There are downed power lines everywhere.”
Thankfully, no one was killed, and no serious injuries were reported from winds estimated at up to 140 miles per hour.
Argue, who has lived in The Acreage since 2011, said she has never seen anything like this in the area.
“We’re used to hurricanes… but I don’t think people are really prepared for tornadoes [of this size and strength],” she said. “We’re very lucky the hurricane did not track over us and add to it.”
“ITID crews have been out since early this morning,” ITID Supervisor Keith Jordano said while observing their efforts the next day. “We’re working for our residents.”
In fact, ITID crews were the first responders for many residents.
“We’re the front line,” ITID President Elizabeth Accomando said this week. “I think district staff has done an amazing job.”
ITID workers were on the ground immediately after the twister passed, “clearing roads and providing information that was critical,” she said.
Seven days later, that work was continuing with help coming in from many quarters — Florida Power & Light, Palm Beach County Emergency Management, the Solid Waste Authority and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among other governmental entities. Several nonprofits and church organizations also have pitched in to help.
Stacey Willson, executive director of engagement for Community of Hope Church on Okeechobee Blvd. at E Road, said their post-tornado efforts have been focused on renters who are not eligible for the same benefits as homeowners. The church has been offering food assistance, hot meals, help with minor home repairs and doing wellness checks on those who may be suffering from post-traumatic shock.
Community of Hope fed more than 230 individuals over the weekend, and that was not a one-shot deal. “We’re in it for the long haul… for as long as we’re needed in the community,” Willson said. “There’s so much help that people need. They’ve lost power. They’ve lost food, and they were struggling to begin with.”
FEMA disaster survivor assistance workers began visiting homeowners Tuesday, helping to make sure those eligible register for federal assistance, according to a FEMA spokesperson.
However, District 6 County Commissioner Sara Baxter, who lives in The Acreage, said Wednesday that it is important that FEMA have a fixed presence in the community where residents know they can go for help.
Wellington has been pushing for the FEMA center to be located there. Baxter said she hopes a satellite center can be set up in Royal Palm Beach with a FEMA mobile site in The Acreage.
Baxter said she also is reaching out to Palm Tran, the county’s mass transit agency, in an effort to bring in vans or buses to help residents whose cars have been damaged or destroyed get to FEMA centers and other resources as they become available.
“I’m encouraging people with damage to file a claim. We did,” said Baxter, whose home and property were battered. “Overall, I’ve been happy with the coordinated efforts of the different agencies. I’ve been particularly impressed by how seriously the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has been taking the situation.”
Baxter said extra deputies have been assigned to watch over areas still without power and to dissuade would-be looters. “Seeing how people have been helping each other is amazing,” she said.
Accomando said those efforts range from large government entities to individuals to small businesses pitching in. For instance, she pointed to Il Pomodoro Restaurant on Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, which is donating 20 percent of its Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday proceeds for two weeks to help tornado victims.
“We’ve got to hit every avenue possible to get people help,” Accomando said.
Knowing that one of the most important resources in such a situation is reliable information, Accomando asked ITID Executive Director Burgess Hanson to pull together a public information sharing session including local, county, state and federal officials.
The session took place Sunday afternoon at ITID’s offices and drew a packed room, plus numerous online viewers. The gathering included ITID board members and top staff, Loxahatchee Groves Mayor Anita Kane, Palm Beach County Emergency Management Director Mary Blakeney, Baxter and Palm Beach County Vice Mayor Maria Marino, and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, whose district covers much of the area.
Mast said he was unfamiliar with tornadoes on this scale but reached out to fellow lawmakers from “Tornado Alley” states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, where powerful twisters are common.
The congressman said the advice he got from them was, “if roof tiles are torn off, make the assumption that [the house] is a total loss. Make your insurance adjuster prove to you that your trusses aren’t twisted up — that the frame of your house is not twisted… or that it hasn’t been pushed askew.”
At this stage, said Mast, “We don’t know what we don’t know.”
Mast said he and his staff would be available to help individuals struggling with FEMA claims and other red tape.
Numbers for Mast’s various offices can be found at https://mast.house.gov/our-offices.
“I’m happy everyone came together representing every aspect of the effort,” Argue said. “It helped to create some visibility… [but] we still have a long way to go with people who have sustained damage.”
Accomando said she is very happy with the outpouring of support for and from the community, but “so much is needed. So many people are devastated.”
