EF0 tornado on Fort Myers Beach shocks beachgoers, interrupts shrimp festival

Reporter: Michelle Alvarez Writer: Drew Hill
Published: Updated:
FMB waterspout
A screen shot from a video shows a water spout spinning off of Fort Myers Beach on Saturday afternoon. (CREDI: Alex Hamlin)

Southwest Florida has seen quite a shift in weather over the past 24 hours. The waterspout turned tornado canceled several beach plans and interrupted a festival on Fort Myers Beach.

Fort Myers Beach looked normal at 12:06 p.m. on Saturday, four minutes before a waterspout was seen in the distance. It moved closer in the Gulf and made sudden landfall on Fort Myers Beach.

The spout turned into a tornado briefly as it toppled trashcans, tossed beach gear and sent people sprinting away.

Dale Groombridge is visiting Southwest Florida from Canada. “We’ve enjoyed the atmosphere and the weather here in Fort Myers Beach for years now. Of course, we know it can change on occasion, and that’s what happened today,” said Groombridge.

Audrey and Dale Groombridge have been vacationing on Fort Myers Beach for 45 years. The couple is in town for the Fort Myers Beach Lions Club Shrimp Festival, but the weather interrupted some of the festivities.

Cheryl Sackaris is a vendor at the shrimp festival. “You can see our tent is shaking like crazy right now, but, um, you know, I’m used to it to a point because I’ve been doing shows for about 24 years,” said Sackaris.

She was one of the few vendors who decided to ride out the storm. “Today, I think, was a little bit of the scariest. Because it came all of a sudden, like what’s going on, there’s a water spout, here we go, where’s it going?” Sackaris said.

It left behind minor damage on the beach and caution tape as a reminder of how quickly the weather can change.

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