Strong winds and rain pound through west Central Florida, downing power lines and snapping trees.
By LEANORA MINAI
Published April 13, 2004
As the wind howled outside, Alice Crowley looked up from a bubbling pot of vegetable soup and glanced out the kitchen window.
At that instant, a 45-foot tall oak split and fell, narrowly missing her northeast St. Petersburg home and ripping down electric lines.
"God, that was scary," said Crowley, 57.
The strong winds that ripped through the Tampa Bay area Monday were part of a complex storm system from the Gulf of Mexico that brought in what likely will be the last cool front of the season.
The front arrived with gusto, dumping 2 inches of rain, snapping power lines and damaging several buildings throughout West Central Florida. Large trucks were banned from the Sunshine Skyway bridge for two hours after gusts registered at 60 mph.
More rain is expected today with mostly cloudy skies and high temperatures near 72 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Wednesday will be mostly sunny with low temperatures in the 50s.
"It may be the last real cold front to get through the area," said Ryan Sharp, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
Wind gusts of up to 50 mph were detected Monday afternoon in Pinellas County, the result of low pressure in the northeast gulf and high pressure over South Florida that created fierce winds over the Tampa Bay area. Tampa International Airport registered gusts of 37 mph.
Falling tree branches pulled down power lines throughout the area Sunday evening and Monday, according to Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg and Tampa Electric Co.
Power was restored to 39,100 Progess customers statewide, including about 10,500 in the St. Petersburg area. But about 4,800 customers, including more than 1,900 around St. Petersburg, were still without power Monday evening.
Tampa Electric said it had restored power to about 17,000 customers in its service area, mostly around Hillsborough County.
Strong winds also stymied traffic.
Trooper Larry Coggins, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol, said large trucks were not allowed on the Sunshine Skyway bridge when wind speeds reached 60 mph. At 4:30 p.m., large trucks were crossing the bridge again.
"All it takes is that one semi to get bounced over on a vehicle, and the results are catastrophic," Coggins said.
Early Monday morning in Carrollwood, high winds damaged Gaither High School's auditorium, tearing away large sections of concrete facing. Concrete crashed through the second-story roof on an adjacent wing that houses band and choral classrooms.
"It punched some holes in the roof and blocked the drains, so water pooled in the building," said Hillsborough schools spokesman Mark Hart.
Hart estimated the cost of repairing the damage between $80,000 and $100,000. Although the interior of the auditorium was not damaged, it will remain closed for up to two weeks.
In Pinellas County, emergency workers responded to 55 calls of wires down and transformer pole fires between noon and 1:30 p.m.
On St. Pete Beach, a few palm trees fell in the wind.
Cathi Gregory, bar manager at Woody's, said waves splashed over the sea wall and hit the building. Across the street, a newly planted palm tree was down.
"It's been pretty rough," Gregory said.
- Times staff writers Grace Agostin, Louis Hau and Logan Mabe contributed to this report.
