Hurricane Milton hit Florida on Oct. 9, bringing with it dozens of tornadoes in the outer bands. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued 129  tornado warnings and documented 38 tornadoes reported by eye witnesses.

The first tornado reported in the Big Lake area on Oct. 9 traveled more than 70 miles across three counties.

NWS documented a long track tornado that impacted the Big Cypress Reservation. According to the NWS survey, the tornado started at 9:23 a.m., southwest of the Miccosukee Rest Area near I-75’s exit 49, west of the Collier County line. It entered the Big Cypress reservation about 30 minutes later.  It continued through portions of eastern Hendry County, went through Clewiston where it moved across the Sky Valley neighborhood at 11:10 a.m. The tornado went through sugarcane fields to the western littoral area of Lake Okeechobee into Glades County and over the Herbert Hoover Dike and damaged homes in the Friendship Drive area. According to NWS, the tornado lasted more than 2 hours and 30 minutes. Peak winds were estimated at 110. The tornado’s path was 70.8 miles. Maximum path width was 300 yards.

A second tornado hit Glades County that afternoon. It damaged or destroyed dozens of homes in the Twin Palms area (originally known as Sarasota Colony). The tornado was rated as EF-3 with estimated peak winds of 140 mph. According to the NWS damage survey, the tornado started at 2:30 p.m. north/northeast of Moore Haven and traveled 9.1 miles to end at 2:49 p.m.  west/northwest of Brighton Seminole Village.

According to the NWS damage survey, in Lakeport’s Twin Palms area the tornado “demolished the second story swellings of three well-built homes.” The tornado also “destroyed the roofs and broke windows of 1920s-era Florida homes, lofted and tossed several manufactured homes and travel trailers, flipped a Ford Focus station wagon and deposited debris over two blocks from their original location into the bottom of a retention pond behind the neighborhood. One manufactured home chassis was observed wrapped 15 to 20 feet above the ground around a hardwood tree located across the street from its original location with the contents of the home located in the pond almost 200 yards downstream.”

Three tornadoes were documented in Okeechobee County on Oct. 9.

According to the NWS Hurricane Milton Storm Survey, the tornado that impacted rural Okeechobee County Dixie Ranch area started at 2:04 p.m. on Oct. 9 and ended at 2:20 p.m. Estimated peak wind speed was 115 mph. Maximum path width was 250 yards. Path length was 8.5 miles. Two people were injured. The tornado was rated: EF-2.

The Rural NE Okeechobee County tornado, started at 2:15 p.m. and ended at 2:39 p.m. Estimated wind peak was 110 mph. Maximum path width was 300 yards. Path length was 13.1 miles. The tornado was rated EF-1.

The  C&M Rucks Dairy tornado started at 2:27 p.m. and ended at 2:32 p.m. Estimated peak wind was 115 mph. Path length was 2.6 miles. Maximum path width was 100 yards. The tornado was rated EF-2.