BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
LAKE BUTLER—A potentially dangerous storm last Tuesday did not deliver the predicted damage in North Central Florida warned of in the forecasts but vented its rage to the north and east of the area.
The powerful line of storms caused by a solid low-pressure system brought the state the possibility of tornadoes, high winds (with gusts up to 70 mph in some areas), heavy rain, flash flooding, severe thunderstorms, and large hail. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 49 Florida counties in anticipation of the storm, and counties in the panhandle felt the brunt of it. At one point, there were about 90,000 Floridians, mostly in the panhandle, without power as that number was still estimated to be about 50,000 as of 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
By the time the storm had reached Union County, it appeared to have lost much of its momentum, according to Capt. Lyn Williams at the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Union County Emergency Management said no tornadoes were cited in the county, and the watch was canceled by 3 p.m. Wind gusts ranged from 35-40 mph, with some up to 45 mph in the Providence area. Some trees were down, most causing little or no damage. There were no power outages in the county, no blocked major roads, and no flooding, although some ditches were full by the end of the rain. Standing water was visible in some low areas but soon abated. The most significant sign that a storm had passed through the area was the usual mess of small tree debris everywhere, but most of this was cleaned up by Wednesday afternoon. Union was lucky last week compared to many Florida counties, just getting a little wetter than usual from a winter storm.
