GLADES COUNTY, Fla. – The National Weather Service released a survey Friday reporting that two Hurricane Milton-related tornados had affected the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes on Wednesday while also causing damage in Collier, Hendry, and Glades counties.
According to the survey, the first tornado started its track at 9:23 a.m., southwest of the Miccosukee Rest Area along Interstate 75′s exit 49, west of the Collier-Broward County line, and it entered the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation about 30 minutes later.
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The supercell producing the tornado continued through rural portions of eastern Hendry County until it entered Clewiston, about 80 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale, moved across the Sky Valley neighborhood at about 11:10 a.m., and entered sugarcane fields.
After reaching the western littoral shelf of Lake Okeechobee, it emerged over the Herbert Hoover Dike. It entered the Friendship Drive neighborhood, where it damaged manufactured homes before crossing Florida State Road 78 to damage more homes, roll out an outbuilding off its foundation, and snap a wooden utility pole at its base.
The tornado moved into fields near the Harney Pond Canal before entering the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation. It crossed several cattle pastures, entered the Red Barn area to the west of the Brighton Seminole Village uprooting several mature hardwood trees.
The tornado dissipated near the village after causing damage for over two hours and 30 minutes. With peak winds estimated at 110 mph, the tornado’s path length was 70.8 miles and its width was 300 yards. NWS meteorologists ranked damage based on wind estimates as an EF-1 on a scale of five.
SECOND TORNADO WEDNESDAY: Glade County
According to the survey, the second tornado started its track at 2:30 p.m., in Moore Haven, on the southwest shoreline of Lake Okeechobee, and caused damage for 19 minutes.
The tornado continued in Lakeport’s Sarasota Colony neighborhood, near the western shore of Lake Okeechobee, where it demolished the second-story dwellings of three well-built homes. Then it crossed Florida State Road 78 into the Fishermans Lane neighborhood damaging 1920s-era homes. It also lofted and tossed manufactured homes and travel trailers.
The tornado also flipped a Ford Focus station wagon pushing debris for about two blocks, and into a retention pond. The tornado moved to the east of the Harney Pond Canal and entered the southern limits of the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation.
It damaged trees and pulled metal panels from roofs before entering the Brighton Seminole Village, where it damaged chickee hut roofs and demolished the baseball fields’ spectator and dugout areas in the village’s Sports Complex.
With peak winds estimated at 140 mph, the tornado’s path length was 9.1 miles and its width was 200 yards. NWS meteorologists ranked some of the damage based on wind estimates as a “violent” EF-3 on a scale of five.
The Seminole Tribe of Indians of Florida, The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, The Florida Department of Transportation, Glades County Emergency Management, Collier County Emergency Management, Hendry County Emergency Management, and officials at the City of Clewiston assisted the NWS with the survey.
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