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Tornado shakes up Hudson, hits school
By TAMARA LUSH © St. Petersburg Times, published March 6, 2001
The twister tore a piece off the gymnasium roof, and water flooded the room, said Superintendent John Long. The gym was closed to students and staff Monday. Rows of aluminum bleachers flanking an outdoor field were demolished during Sunday's high winds and tornado. "They looked like pretzels," said Long, who guessed that the school sustained about $50,000 in damage. "The tornado just twisted and crumpled them." According to the National Weather Service in Ruskin, the tornado hit the area at about 8:03 a.m. on Sunday. No one was injured, but scattered damage was reported in several neighborhoods. The first sighting was in the Beacon Woods subdivision, where the high winds wrenched a pool enclosure out of the ground. The twister then skipped over a nearby mobile home park, damaged the high school and downed trees on Mayer Avenue. Bob Kern's 20-by-24-foot carport roof was attached to his home, until the twister hit. "It actually took that roof and spun it around," said Kern. The tornado was an F-0 on the Fujita Tornado Scale, said Dan Sobien, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. That is the smallest tornado measured, with winds between 40 and 72 mph. Sobien said the Hudson area likely suffered more high wind damage than tornado damage. "This actually was a very weak tornado." But residents remained shaken on Monday by the force of Mother Nature. "The trees were like rubber bands," said Jean Schulz, who saw her tiny, decorative windmill and a plastic lawn chair become airborne. "I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz." - Tamara Lush can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6245. Her e-mail address is lush@sptimes.com.
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