A tornado struck a TV station while the weatherman was doing a live broadcast showing the terrifying moment the system closed in.
FOX 35 meteorologist Brooks Garner kept remarkably calm as an EF-2 tornado approached and hit the station in Lake Mary, Florida, on Monday morning.
Footage broadcast on the station shows windy conditions and the scene outside growing darker and lower in visibility.
‘That could be in guys… at the very least, torrential rain,’ said Garner.
‘OK bring the camera out guys if you can. Live camera of a tornado which could be passing by.’
Garner reiterated that a tornado could be passing by the station and that debris had entered the scene.
‘OK there’s debris, we’ve got debris. OK take shelter, everybody in the FOX 35 (station) get… under your desk,’ he said.
‘Debris on the roof right now. We’re hearing, you can see the debris flying there now.
‘This is a tornado, seek shelter immediately, get under your desks guys, anchor under the desks.’
The broadcast then cut out.
According to the National Weather Service’s Melbourne office team, which surveyed the aftermath, the tornado touched down east of Wekiwa Springs State Park and blasted through the Wingfield Reserve neighborhood with winds reaching 95mph. Its speed got up to 115mph as it passed the Whispering Winds subdivision and crossed Interstate 4 in Lake Mary, coming into the view of the TV station’s cameras.
The tornado covered 4 miles in 14 minutes and obliterated two homes on Blue Iris Place in Seminole County.
Lake Mary is about 20 miles north of Orlando.
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