BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Severe thunderstorms swept through the area Dec. 8 and even spawned a tornado in Starke.
The National Weather Service determined the EF1 tornado occurred around 5:20 p.m. With a peak wind speed of 95 mph, the tornado traveled around a half-mile from east of U.S. 301 toward Starke ER. The 200-yard-wide path of destruction caused significant damage on Thompson, Cherry and especially Laura streets.
According to Bradford County Emergency Management Director Brad Witt, two businesses and 13 homes in Starke reported minor damage. Four homes received major damage, displacing a total of 10 residents. All were offered Red Cross assistance but had other accommodations, he said.
“While we’re definitely thinking about and standing ready to help those who were displaced from their home in any way we can, we’re thankful that no one was injured,” Witt said.
No extensive damage has been reported around the county, but emergency management is continuing its damage assessment.
“Obviously, we had some strong cells within that thunderstorm that moved through, but at this time our offices had no severe damage or issues reported outside of the tornado,” Witt said.
Power was out for a time in parts of the city. Based on the Suwannee River Water Management District towers located throughout the county, anywhere from 0.71 inches to 1.28 inches of rain fell last Wednesday. There was no report of flooding.
The emergency management director gave a shout out to those involved in the response.
“We’re thankful for all of our first responder partners in the Starke Police Department, Starke Fire Rescue, Bradford County Fire Rescue and Bradford County Sheriff’s Office for their roles that night, and quickly getting out there, assessing the situation and being able to render aid to folks who needed it,” Witt said.
“We also want to want to thank public works for both the city and the county in their recovery efforts.”
While it may often go unnoticed, Witt said those crews are out the night of the storm and continue cleaning up for days to come, helping lives get back to normal as soon as possible.
“We have very, very strong partnerships here in Bradford County, and ultimately that helps us turn our response into recovery mode a lot quicker and a lot more efficiently,” he said.
