BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
School was out Tuesday, and businesses and government offices closed early to wait out thunderstorms, high winds and a tornado watch.
The tornado watch expired at 6 p.m. following several hours of wind, rain and a severe thunderstorm, which began earlier in the afternoon.
The tornado threat shifted to north and central Florida after a possible tornado damaged Bay County, including a now well-circulated photo of a three-story house leaning on its neighbor. Other reports of damage outside the area included roofs, campgrounds and RV parks. Deaths were reported out of state, but only injuries were reported in Florida.
That level of damage was not reported in Bradford County as of Tuesday evening. Several Starke streets were under water during the storm, which is unfortunately typical when a large amount of rain falls in a short amount of time.
Bradford Emergency Management Director Lt. Brad Witt said there were 100 or more power outages reported at one point during the storm. Clay Electric Cooperative reported no outages in Bradford County, 211 outages in Clay County and just two in Union County as of 7 p.m. Florida Power and Light reported one in Bradford and none in Union or Clay.
