LYNN HAVEN, Fla. (WMBB) — The National Weather Service confirmed a strong EF-1 tornado touched down in Lynn Haven Thursday afternoon.
They say the winds got up to 110 miles per hour.
The roof in the driveway of a Montana Avenue home was carried by the tornado for more than a block. It was ripped off the carport attached to a Fourth Street home.
Elaine Coyman left to pick up the pieces in her driveway with her car crushed under the roof.
“It was just devastating, devastating, “Coyman said. “Just start crying and, you know, it’s just devastating.”
She said the whole thing happened in the blink of an eye.
“Sitting in the TV room here, just watching the news, watching the tornado warnings,” Coyman said. “All of a sudden, it just got kind of quiet and white and my husband was an invalid. I started yelling, ‘Tornado, tornado’, and got him up to his walker to go to the hall closet. By the time I got him there, the tornado was over. It was that fast. I heard nothing.”
Coyman said this storm felt worse than hurricanes Michael and Sally. Miraculously, no one was hurt.
“The glass was flying in the front broken windows but it didn’t hit us so we’re good, we’re good,” Coyman said.
While the inside of the home is mostly intact, the front wall took a pretty big hit.
“It’s surreal,” Coyman said. “You know, you just didn’t know what to think really. Just thankful that we were both safe. House can be replaced. Cars can be replaced. We were safe. We were lucky. We were lucky.”
Coyman said the clean-up and rebuilding process will take time. In her case, she believes she can return home as soon as she can board up her windows and restore electricity.