ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Orange Park residents are cleaning up their yards after a storm brought strong winds and hail around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon.
Our First Alert Weather Team says downburst winds hit between 50 and 60 mph, and residents report seeing hail.
Gina Storch, who’s lived in her Orange Park home for more than two decades, says she was making coffee in her kitchen when she heard what sounded like an airplane flying over her.
“I just take my phone and step outside in the backyard, and it’s like, if you see a blender, that was how it looked like, [with] everything in the middle,” Storch said. “That was actually very, very, very scary.”
She says after the storm, she went to check on her neighbor, who she says is 85, blind and partially deaf, after seeing multiple trees fall on top of and into his home.
“His family like show up soon, and they tell him not [he’s] allowed in the house because it’s evidently very damaged inside,” Storch said.
Clay County says at least four homes had trees fall inside them, and at least 20 trees were knocked down by the storm.
Rocky Sharon, who lives just a few blocks away from Storch, says it felt like a hurricane.
“Gosh, for a while there, the wind was going, and the rain was going sideways,” Sharon said. “I’ve been through a couple hurricanes, and for a few minutes, it seemed like it was that strong.”
Clay Electric says that as of 8 p.m., over 2,800 customers in the Orange Park district are without power, and over 5,000 are without power in the county.
They said that, for a time estimate on when power will be restored, customers can text the words “out” or “status” to 855-939-3840.
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