Gov. Scott tours Charlotte County areas hit by tornadoes

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PUNTA GORDA, Fla.- Florida Gov. Rick Scott toured the Deep Creek area in Charlotte County on Thursday to assess the damage caused by an EF1 tornado.

Scott arrived around 7:30 p.m. from Pensacola, which also experienced tornadic activity.

“I’ve been governor for five years. This is the first time we’ve seen this. We’ve had a lot of tornados this year but people show up. They are taking care of their neighborhoods and their neighbors,” Scott said.

In Charlotte County, winds of up to 97 mph damaged 36 homes and numerous vehicles and knocked down power lines Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. Eleven of the homes were deemed uninhabitable by Charlotte County building officials.

One of those homes belongs to Chuck and Denise Thibault who say they were enjoying a typical afternoon when the EF1 tornado blew through their house.

“My wife was yelling ‘what’s going on?’ And I got up and see more going on, I screamed out to her, ‘it’s a tornado, lay down wherever you are,'” Chuck Thibault described. “All of a sudden, the winds really started picking up, the lights started flickering and then the lights went out, I heard a bang.”

Winds ripped the roof off of the Thibault’s house in Port Charlotte’s Deep Creek neighborhood, leaving it unsafe to enter.

“Went by my garage and that blew off, the roof to my garage. Pictures and everything went flying around me and then it stopped,” Thibault said.

Chards of broken glass lay scattered across the living room, while a neighbor’s grill is now a fixture in their backyard. Their pool once filled with Florida sunshine memories is now also filled with debris.

The National Weather Service confirms a second EF0 tornado also hit the area, causing damage to signs, a bank and trees in Murdock.

The American Red Cross is staging at Charlotte Fire/EMS Station 12 at 2001 Luther Road in Deep Creek. For residents whose vehicles were damaged, Charlotte County Transit offers door-to-door transportation. To reserve a ride, call 941-575-4000.

The state needs to assess damage before aid can be requested, Gov. Scott said.

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