Two die in Florida tornado

Columbia
County Emergency Management spokesman Harvey Campbell says a woman was
killed Friday when a tree fell on her mobile home and a man was
electrocuted when he was attempting to connect a generator. Their names
have not been released.

Several people received minor injuries and homes and businesses were damaged by a twister that hit Friday morning.

Tornadoes cut through Florida and Georgia on Friday, blowing homes off foundations, felling power lines and snapping majestic oak trees as a record series of winter tornadoes continued to pound the United States.

The National Weather Service had preliminary reports of at least 10 tornadoes that flipped cars, damaged homes and interrupted power supplies in northern Florida and southern Georgia. Minor injuries were reported, but no deaths.

Florida resident Joe Thornton said had left for work when he got a call that a tornado had ripped through his house in Capitola, near the state capital Tallahassee.

He returned home to find pieces of his neighbor's metal roof wrapped around his trees. His mules, Curly and Ella, were covered in grass and broken twigs and were grumpy but unhurt.

"It doesn't take but one of these tornadoes to make a lifetime of premiums worthwhile," Thornton said. "I feel blessed we're all OK."

Jail inmates were put to work cutting up ancient live oak trees snapped in half by the windstorm that residents said swept through in a flash.

"I got up to go to the bathroom and by the time I was done it was over," said Capitola resident Brett Winchester.

The weather service's Storm Prediction Center counted 368 tornadoes in January and February, far above the three-year average of just under 60 for the two winter months.