Power Outage in Palm Bay, FL

A National Weather Service Melbourne damage survey confirms that an EF-1 tornado impacted the South Patrick Shores community just south of Patrick Space Force Base. The tornado touched down initially in the Lighthouse Landing subdivision near the intersection of Lighthouse Landing St. and South Patrick Dr. The circulation continued on an east-northeast trajectory across the South Patrick Shores community before emerging into the Atlantic near Ocean Blvd. and SR A1A. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 1.0 mile, had a maximum width of approximately 300 yards, and peak winds estimated between 90-100 mph.||Brevard County Emergency Management conducted a damage assessment and noted numerous homes were affected with at least some damage, 25 homes with minor damage, and 10 with major damage. NWS meteorologists documented impacts on both the north and south sides of the tornadic circulation in an area bounded by SE 1st St. to the south and NE 2nd St. to the north. Numerous homes in this area experienced at least partial losses of their carports and awnings. Additionally, several homes lost portions of their roof, a few trees were uprooted, and between 6-10 power poles were snapped in this area.

An off-duty NWS employee reported downed power lines at the intersection of Babcock Street and Valkaria Road in Melbourne, and at the 6300 block of A1A in Melbourne Shores.

Category 3 Hurricane Irma made landfall near Naples during the late afternoon of September 10. Irma then moved northward across west-central Florida during the evening and overnight while weakening to a Category 2 hurricane approximately 95 miles west of Melbourne. A long duration of damaging winds occurred across Brevard County, with a period of frequent gusts to hurricane force (especially near the coast). The highest sustained wind was measured at WeatherFlow site in Melbourne Shores (64 mph from the southeast at 2225LST on September 10) and the peak gust was 94 mph from the southeast at 2040LST at a WeatherFlow site located along the Banana River at State Road 528. A preliminary report indicated 7,132 homes sustained damage, including 400 with major damage and 45 destroyed. The initial property damage estimate was $30 Million. Damage generally involved roof shingles/tiles, soffits, awnings, and pool enclosures. Several houses, condos and businesses lost portions of their roofs, primarily along the coast, with additional damage due to water intrusion. Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped and many gas station awnings along the coast were toppled. Florida Power and Light reported 100 percent of customers within the county lost power during the hurricane. A total of 3,667 residents evacuated to shelters within the county.

The center of major Hurricane Matthew passed only 25 miles offshore Brevard County during the morning hours of October 7, producing a long duration of sustained tropical storm winds through much of the county and a shorter period of frequent gusts to hurricane force closer to the coast. A NWS damage survey confirmed that sustained category 1-2 hurricane winds likely occurred along the coastline from Cape Canaveral northward. The highest sustained wind recorded at the Melbourne International Airport was 53 mph from the north at 0146LST on October 7 and the peak gust was 70 mph from the northwest at 0257LST. A USAF wind sensor at 54 feet above ground level near the beach north of Cape Canaveral recorded a sustained wind of 79 mph and a gust of 107 mph. Other recorded peak wind gusts included 87 mph at Satellite Beach, 81 mph on Merritt Island and 77 mph at Cocoa Beach. Wind damage occurred to several hundred homes, often a result of impacts due to falling trees. Eleven homes were destroyed, 140 sustained major damage, 549 experienced minor damage and an additional 1,500 homes were affected in some way. Structural damage to homes and businesses due to wind were confined mainly to the barrier islands as well as those properties exposed to larger bodies of water. Damage generally involved roof shingles, soffits, awnings, and pool enclosures. Further inland, property damage was mainly a result of fallen trees, especially to older buildings and mobile homes near wooded areas. Several homes experienced water intrusion due to damaged roofs. Two homes were lost to fire as officials suspended emergency services during the height of the storm. County-wide, there was sporadic damage to fences, awnings, and screen rooms. About 227,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm, or about 75 percent of the county. Preliminary property damage was estimated at $35 million to residential structures and $40 million to public structures. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for residents of the barrier islands, including Merritt Island, as well as low-lying areas, RV parks, and mobile homes across the remainder of the county. A total of 4,320 residents evacuated to shelters within the county. There was one direct injury. A male in his 40s was injured in Port Canaveral when a sign fell and struck him during the storm.

An EF0 tornado with winds estimated between 70 and 80 mph touched down near the Intersection of U.S. 1 and Dixon Boulevard in Cocoa and travelled northeast to the Indian River where it became a waterspout. The tornado produced minor damage to the roofs and outbuilding of several businesses along U.S. 1, with power lines also downed. Numerous trees were downed along Dixon Boulevard and Indian River Drive. DI27; DOD2; EXP, DI8; DOD2; EXP.

Power lines were blown down at the intersection of South Patrick Drive and Pineda Causeway.

Power lines were blown down blocking US Highway 1.

A large tree took down power lines in Palm Bay.

The same rainband cell that destroyed the house south of Melbourne Beach continued to move northwest and produced a brief F0 tornado that took out power lines and transformers.

As Hurricane Charley moved across Volusia County the rainbands south of the eyewall swept across northern Brevard County. Strong tropical storm force winds swept the area with possible gust to near hurricane strength. Patrick Air Force Base reported wind gusts to 43 knots (50 mph). A Cape Canaveral NASA tower (elevated wind) reported a gust to 75 knots (86 mph). A Brevard County fire station in Port St. John reported a wind gust of 68 knots (77 mph). Damage in Brevard County was limited to power outages and a few trees down, with some damage to roofs and mobile homes north of Titusville. A Brevard County man was electrocuted and fell from a power pole as he attemted to restore power to his house on August 18th. He died in Orlando on August 23rd. Total damage estimate for the county was just under $1 million.

A strong cold front moved across central Florida producing several reports of damaging winds. A powerful storm system was moving across much of the Southeastern U.S. as high amounts of instability and moisture aided in the development of numerous thunderstorms along a cold front. Winds just off the ground were strong - in excess of 60-70 mph and the severe thunderstorms that developed tapped into these strong winds and brought them down to the surface. As the line of strong to severe storms moved into Lake County, one severe storm produced wind damage along the Florida Turnpike. Later in the day, another severe storm produced wind damage in Saint Lucie County, while a different severe storm produced strong winds at the Cape in Brevard County. Additionally, lightning struck a boat on the Indian River near Cocoa causing it to sink.

Storms ahead of a strong squall line downed several trees and power lines and produced two brief, short-tracked tornadoes.

Hurricane Wilma crossed the southern Florida Peninsula from the southwest exiting the state and moving over the Atlantic Ocean over the Martin/Palm Beach county line. Hurricane Wilma was riding northeast along the first strong cold front of the Fall season. Cold dry air was being pulled into east central Florida as Wilma was moving off the south Florida coast. In Brevard County Hurricane Wilma produced widespread minor wind damage with trees and power lines down and damage to roofs and out buildings. As much as 10 to 13 inches of rain fell across the central and north part of the county. About 200 homes were flooded in the town of Cocoa. Total crop loss including citrus equals $3 million. Melbourne International Airport recorded a wind gust to 77 mph (67 knots) with sustained winds of 48 mph (42 knots). Strongest wind in the county was recorded at a 60 foot tall NASA wind tower with a wind gust to 94 mph (82 knots) and sustained wins of 64 mph(56 knots). Four tornadoes touched down in the county producing minor damage except one that came off the Atlantic and took the top floor off a beach front residence. There were no injuries. Tornado damage was around $100 thousand. Lowest recorded surface pressure was 991.5 millibars in Palm Bay.In Indian River County Wilma produced widespread minor wind damage with trees and power lines down and damage to roofs and out buildings. A communication tower was blown down, damaging the county EOC. Total crop loss including vegetables, citrus and sugar equals $20 million. As much as 6 inches of rain fell across the county. Vero Beach Airport recorded a wind gust to 55 mph (48 knots) with sustained winds of 40 mph (35 knots). Lowest recorded surface pressure was 975.3 millibars in Vero Beach.The eyewall of Hurricane Wilma passed moved off shore just south of St. Lucie County. In the county the strongest winds occurred as the winds backed to the north with the large eye of Wilma just offshore to the east. Estimated wind gust of 100 mph occurred along the beaches. Two mobile homes were destroyed, otherwise Hurricane Wilma produced widespread minor wind damage across the county with trees and power lines down and damage to roofs and out buildings. A minor league baseball stadium was severely damaged and the roof was blown off of the St. Lucie County civic center. Total crop loss including vegetables, citrus and sugar equals $28 million. As much as 6 inches of rain fell across the county. Ft. Pierce Airport recorded a wind gust to 77 mph (68 knots) with sustained winds of 52 mph (45 knots). Lowest recorded surface pressure was 968.5 millibars in Ft. Pierce Airport. The northern half of the eyewall of Hurricane Wilma moved over coastal Martin County as Wilma moved off shore. The strongest winds in Martin County occurred as the winds backed to the north with the large eye of Wilma over the coast of Martin County. Estimated wind gust over 100 mph occurred along the beaches. Wilma produced widespread wind damage across the county. Forty eight residences were destroyed and 120 suffered major damage. Most of these were mobile homes. More than 90 percent of Martin County was without electricity. The county's main hospital, Martin Memorial, sustained enough damage to stop taking new patients. As much as 3 to 5 inches of rain fell across the county. Total crop loss including vegetables, citrus and sugar equals $48 million. The highest reported wind gust was 108 mph (94 knots) at the Martin County EOC at Hobe Sound. Lowest recorded surface pressure was 992.0 millibars from a vessel in the St. Lucie River. Actual surface pressure was likely lower. During the passage of Hurricane Wilma a total of four tornadoes occurred, all in Brevard County. Total damage for Hurricane Wilma in Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee counties was $97.5 million.

The center of category 3 Hurricane Jeanne reached the Florida east coast near Sewall's Point in Martin County shortly after midnight on September 26th. Remarkably, this is in the same location where Hurricane Frances came ashore on September 5th. Jeanne was moving to the west northwest at 12 mph and maintained hurricane strength as it crossed most of the Florida Peninsula. Jeanne was downgraded to a tropical storm in the afternoon of September 26th when it was about 40 miles northeast of Tampa Bay. In Volusia County, hurricane force wind gusts began with the rain bands on the north side of Jeanne as they moved on shore. The county, already battered by Hurricane Frances suffered extensive additional damage. Fresh water flooding from local heavy rain, and Flooding of the St. Johns River affected more than 200 residences and business properties. Total damage estimates were near $60 million. Hurricane winds damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Hundreds of thousands of residences were with out power. Most official NWS surface wind equipment failed prior to the max wind of the storm when power was knocked out. The highest recorded wind was only 55 knots (63 mph), but wind damage suggest numerous gusts in excess of hurricane strength. The lowest recorded pressure was 993.6 mb. In Brevard County, the strongest winds swept across the coast south of Cape Canaveral and the southern coastal communities. Grant, Micco and the south part of Palm Bay were hit much harder than the northern locations. County wide damages were reported at $320 million. Especially hard hit was the mobile home community of Barefoot Bay. A Palm Bay man drowned when his pickup truck ran off a road into a deep flooded ditch. Highest wind gusts in the county were, 79 knots (91 mph) at the NWS Melbourne office. Based on radar information, it is estimated that wind gusts over 100 kts (115 mph) swept across the southern coastal areas. The lowest recorded pressure for the storm was 986.8 mb at Melbourne. Total damage estimates for the county were near $320 million. Indian River County was hit hard by Jeanne being to the right of the land falling eye. 8,300 residences were damaged or destroyed and over 41,000 residences were damaged. Total wind damage for the county was over $2 billion. Highest wind gusts in the county were, 106 knots (122 mph) at Vero Beach and 101 knots (116 mph) at Sebastian. The lowest recorded pressure for the county was 965.5 mb at Vero Beach. The north part of the hurricane eye passed over St. Lucie County producing $1.2 billion in wind damage. The marinas along Ft. Pierce inlet were hit destroying dozens of boats. A 34 year old man was electrocuted when his truck ran into a power line. Thousands of homes and business were damaged and destroyed by the wind. Especially hard hit were the dozens of mobile home communities. Highest wind gusts in the county were, 111 knots (128 mph) from a private residence just north of Ft. Pierce inlet. The lowest recorded pressure for the county was 952.9 mb at Ft. Pierce. The eye of Hurricane Jeanne passed over the community of Sewell' Point in Martin County. Over 180 residences were destroyed with about 4000 residences either damaged or destroyed. The highest wind speed recorded was 91 kts (105 mph) in Jensen Beach. No pressure data was recorded for Martin County. Severe beach erosion occurred compounding the damage from Hurricane Frances just 3 weeks earlier.

The center of category 2 Hurricane Frances reached the Florida east coast near Sewall's Point in Martin County early on September 5th. Frances was moving to the west northwest at 7 mph and maintained hurricane strength as it crossed the east half of the Florida Peninsula. Frances was downgraded to a tropical storm in the afternoon on the 5th when it was about 50 miles east of Tampa Bay. In Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, the slow moving storm produced wind gusts to hurricane strength for about 19 hours, producing an estimated 4.5 billion dollars in damage. Wind gusts well over 100 mph destroyed coastal structures, marinas, and vessels. Farther inland, hundreds of homes, mobile homes, and businesses were destroyed, and thousands were damaged. Highest recorded winds for Martin county were 91 knots (105 mph) at Port St. Lucie Inlet. The highest wind gust in St. Lucie County, was 94 knots (108 mph) at Ft. Pierce and in Indian River County, 70 knots ( 81 mph) in Vero Beach. Brevard and Volusia counties also recorded hours of hurricane force wind gusts from the north side of the storm. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and damaged, with hundreds of thousands of residences with out power. Brevard was hit with an estimated damage of 90 million dollars. Damage in Volusia County was close to 240 million dollars. Most official NWS surface wind equipment failed prior to the max wind of the storm when power was knocked out. Highest recorded surface winds gust was 78 knots (90 mph) from Merritt Island Airport, although a wind tower at NASA report gusts to 82 knots (94 mph). These winds were likely representative of what most of the beach front areas were hit with. Daytona Beach International Airport recorded a wind gust to 65 knots (75 mph) prior to the power outage. Lowest recorded pressures for Hurricane Frances were, 994.9 mb at Daytona Beach Airport, 995.9 mb at NWS Melbourne, 962.1 at St. Lucie Lock, and 964.7 at Port Mayaca Lock. Beach errosion was moderate to severe from Cocoa Beach to Ft. Pierce, ranging from 5 to 6 feet from south Brevard County to up to 12 feet near Vero Beach where a large section of a beach road was washed out. A storm surge of 5.89 feet MSL was recorded at the St. Lucie Lock. A surge near 6 feet occured near Cocoa Beach ranging to near 8 feet around Vero Beach where onshore winds were the strongest. Radar estimates show as much as 13 inches of rain fell in Volusia County with a range of 6 to 10 inches of rain in the remaining counties. The worst flooding from Hurricane Frances was in Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties. Significant inland flooding was reported in Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Brevard counties.

Tropical Storm warnings were issued for the east central Florida coast as Tropical Storm Gabrielle moved northeast from near Sarasota to just north of Cape Canaveral. Sustained tropical storm force winds were felt along the north coast of Brevard County and along much of the Volusia County coast. Storm tides reached about two feet above normal and produced significant beach erosion in Brevard and Volusia counties. Wind gusts to around 45 mph produced minor damage across much of east central Florida. About 60 thousand customers were without electrical power in Volusia and Brevard counties after the storm. A 15 year old boy drowned while playing with friends in Gee Creek near Winter Springs. The boy was pulled under branches and other fast-moving debris.