DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - The cleanup was underway on Monday after a stormy day in South Florida.
The National Weather Service said an EF-Zero tornado whipped through a small neighborhood in Davie near Nova Village Drive ripping down a tree onto a home and tearing a bumper off of a car.
“I started hearing crashing. I’m like ‘Oh no! It’s a tornado. I’m out of here,'” said Giancarlo Gonzalez.
Fourteen-year-old Gonzalez was inside his home when the tree fell onto and through his roof. The damage could be seen in their attic.
“I just see the roof, just coming down!” said Gonzalez.
Just a few houses down from Gonzalez’s home, JC Mondesir was almost blown away while working out in the yard when the tornado touched down.
“I would take a hurricane over a tornado any day. A tornado you can prepare for but a tornado, nope.” said Mondesir. “I went over here and I went down like this!! Spread my legs and then I could see that tree go, I saw the branches coming! I saw those going and then I started praying and then I heard the chimes start going ‘ringringringringring,’ the chimes started spinning like this, started spinning! I’m hearing them go ‘dingdingdingding!’ I’m like ‘Oh no!’ and then it just stops.”
Mondesir thanked God for saving his life.
“God put me in the right spot at the right time. Saved my life.” said Mondesir.
7News cameras captured cars in a nearby Carmax parking lot trapped by a tree.
“Around 2:30 in the afternoon, a cell developed in Miami-Dade County and moved northeast through Broward County,” said National Weather Service Science Operations Officer Donal Harrigan.
Harrigan spoke to 7News as he surveyed the damage done to Mondesir’s home by the tornado.
“Any time we get a cold front that comes through here in the winter time, especially during an El Nino year, where they tend to be more dynamic, they have stronger winds. Any time a frontal boundary approaches, there’s the potential to have some tornadoes along with it,” said Harrigan.
People impacted by the storms told 7News that they are thankful to be alive as material things can be replaced but a life cannot.
Officials urged residents to stay prepared for days like Sunday because the impact is widespread.
Events such as the Coconut Grove Art Festival was shutdown, trees fell all over Pembroke Pines, a waterspout turned into a tornado in Cudjoe Key and a Tamarac woman had part of her roof collapse from water damage on Sunday. No injuries were reported.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.