LARGO, Fla. (WFLA) – Neighbors across Pinellas County are cleaning up following severe thunderstorms through the area Wednesday night. A suspected tornado touched down in Largo.
Thursday morning, leaders with the National Weather Service said radar and video confirmed the tornado.
They said someone would be out to survey the damage during the day.
Mangled pieces of mobile homes are scattered through the Bay Ranch community in Largo.
“It was just like a bomb going off. This thing just blew up,” Rick Gilkes describes.
The homeowner was inside when the severe weather arrived.
“I saw everything starting to twirl. I went out in my Florida room to the side, I looked up and I saw the twister,” He explains.
Neighbor Steve Carlsen was outside when the storm moved through the area.
“There was no dirt in this funnel cloud, it was just a wall of spiral,” he details, “it moved in, within just a couple of minutes it was right at my house.”
In other parts of Pinellas County, families experienced high winds, heavy rain, and hail. “It felt like a hurricane had just started right on top of us, and we knew there was a bad weather coming, but we thought nothing like this, just a regular thunderstorm,” describes one resident.
Owners at Bay Ranch said the damage is worse than any hurricane.
“Everything is gone, I have nothing left,” Gilkes said.
Leaders with the Red Cross are assisting individuals with nowhere to go. Leaders with Largo Fire Rescue say several homes have severe damage.
According to the Largo Police Department, there are no reported injuries in connection with the storm.
