Around 6 p.m on Saturday, January 6th, a tornado touched down west of Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. It made contact with some structures, power lines, and marine vessels in that immediate area before appearing to move quickly to the east until it reached the ocean and faded away. As a result, many properties along the intercoastal had shattered glass and outside furniture tossed around. 

Robert Given, a resident in Ft. Lauderdale, said that he was standing on the roof of the Lauderdale Yacht Club when he saw debris flying. Jodi Lewis, another Ft. Lauderdale resident stated, “The house started shaking. Everything’s flying everywhere. Some of our furniture ended up a couple doors down.” 

Being so close to Saint Thomas Aquinas High School, many students were impacted by this tornado.  STA junior JP Given had this to say about the storm: “I was away for the weekend and when I came home, there was a bunch of debris in my front yard and my neighbors were getting a roof repair from the storm.” Hans Doerr, a junior at STA, also said, “I was at a friend’s house and when I came home later, I saw that there was a small dent on my car from debris flying.” According to WPLG Local 10 News, officials said that they are thankful no injuries were reported and damage appears to be minimal. National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Garcia said, “These things can hit very quickly. Sometimes with little to no advance notice.” Florida Power & Light (FPL) workers quickly attended to downed power lines so that residents could get power back up and running in their homes and businesses.