MEXICO BEACH — Some severe weather and a possible tornado slammed the area in the early morning hours of Oct. 27.
The weather system swept across the Florida Panhandle before daybreak, causing regional issues.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office reported that the worst damage from the suspected tornado in Mexico Beach was centered around the El Governor Beach Resort, 1701 U.S. 98, and adjacent RV park.
No fatalities were reported, although BCSO says that two people were taken to the hospital.
“Emergency Services and the BCSO are hard at work to help those affected, clean up, and restore order,” wrote BCSO in a Facebook post. “Damage in Mexico (Beach) appears minor and moderate. Some damage to buildings, some trees down. The worst damage was to the RV Park near the El Governor Beach Resort.”
The city of Mexico Beach announced that Duke Energy tentatively planned to have power restored to affected customers by 5 p.m. Around 8 a.m. they had asked people to stay off the roads until damage could be assessed.
As of 11 a.m., power outage trackers show that outages have mostly affected neighboring Gulf County, where 1,725 people are without electricity. At least 158 are without power in Bay County.
The closest National Weather Service monitoring station to Mexico Beach is on Tyndall Air Force Base, where they measured 2.12 inches of rain falling in a single hour this morning.
Lift stations were also impacted by the storm, with Mexico Beach asking residents to limit wastewater use. Bay County Emergency Services says the county mobilized six generators and staff to temporarily get some of the lift stations back online.
“I’ve been in close contact this morning with local and state emergency officials as they assess the damage from the tornado in Mexico Beach,” wrote state Sen. Jay Trumbull in a statement. “Crews are on the ground surveying the area, and we’re standing by to respond to any needs that arise at the state level.”
Schools in Gulf County and a few local businesses announced their closure for the day.
Intense rain also flooded parts of downtown Panama City.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Suspected tornado hits Mexico Beach as weather system stirred trouble across region
Reporting by Dylan Gentile, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
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