LARGO, Fla. — Largo Fire Rescue completed initial search and safety operations Thursday morning at the two manufactured home communities Bay Ranch and Ranchero Village, located in the 7000 block of Ulmerton Road.
The communities sustained significant storm damage Wednesday night. An EF-1 tornado also touched down in the area, reaching 90 mph winds.
Crews conducted street-by-street damage assessments and search efforts, confirming damage to an estimated 10-15 homes in Bay Ranch and 40-50 homes in Ranchero Village, ranging from minor to severe conditions.
What You Need To Know
- Strong thunderstorms moved into Pinellas County Wednesday evening, bringing heavy rain, hail, frequent lightning strikes and a tornado
- Ranchero Village and Bay Ranch mobile home communities just off Ulmerton Road caught the brunt of the damage
- There were no injuries reported
- TAKE A LOOK: Sights and sounds from Wednesday's storms
Emergency crews had cleared the affected scene late Wednesday, after confirming no residents required emergency housing assistance at that time.
The American Red Cross (ARC) has opened a case for those impacted by the storm. Anyone needing assistance can contact ARC at 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767). ARC teams will be in the area today to provide assistance to affected residents.
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Strong thunderstorms moved into Pinellas County Wednesday evening, bringing heavy rain, hail, frequent lightning strikes and a tornado.
There were no injuries reported.
While the Ranchero Village and Bay Ranch mobile home communities just off Ulmerton Road caught the brunt of the damage, areas off Belcher Road and down to Brian Dairy Road also took a hit.
Signs of the tornado remain Thursday with pieces of mobile homes scattered out to Ulmerton and Belcher roads. The National Weather Service office in Ruskin will conduct a storm survey on Thursday.
Home siding, installation and pieces of metal could be seen blown at least a couple hundred yards.
During the height of the storm late Wednesday afternoon, a lot of debris was just circling in the wind as the storm made its way through Largo.
Residents in the Ranchero Village community said they heard loud bangs and whipping winds. Then came the hail.
By the time it passed, they came outside to see parts of their homes torn off, carports flipped and trees holding on to part of the debris.
The fire department was out shortly after going door-to-door to make sure everyone was OK.
About 20 roofs were torn off homes. Residents there can’t believe what they experienced.
“Houses are destroyed, and people are devastated just walking around, just in shock,” said resident Tim Mudder. “All of a sudden we just heard this really loud bang, and we jumped up and ran outside and everything was just blowing sideways and debris in the air and it looked like little pieces of paper, but it was roof and shingles…it was crazy!”
Reports of hail in this storm spanned all the way out to the beaches, to Clearwater and to Oldsmar with the largest pieces being well over the size of a quarter.