EF-2 tornado causes major damage in southwest Cape Coral
Cape Coral is cleaning up this morning from a strong tornado that blew through the southwest Cape Saturday night, severely damaging homes and vehicles and knocking out power to more than 2,000 homes.
According to the National Weather Service, this was a EF-2 level tornado, which packs winds 111-135 mph. That’s the equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane.
The area affected is to the north, Cape Coral Parkway to the south, Pelican Boulevard to the east, and Sands Boulevard to the west. Vehicular access to this area was limited due to downed power lines and Oasis Middle School was open as a reception center with Red Cross support.
The Cape Coral Fire Department put more than 100 personnel on the ground to go door to door to do damage assessments and welfare checks. Cape Coral Police Department put additional 30 officers on the road.
As of midnight, there were no reports of major injuries or deaths.
Officials warn that if you are going to use a generator due to power outages do not run the generator inside the home or garage areas due to carbon monoxide fumes. Use the generators outside in well ventilated areas.
Source: Caral Coral Police Department