Apartments, Homes Destroyed As Apparent Tornado Rips Two Mile Path(With Gallery)

February 24, 2016

An apparent tornado ripped a path two miles long  through a Pensacola neighborhood Tuesday night, leaving apartments and town homes destroyed, flipping vehicles and more in its wake.

At The Moorings apartment complex on Old Spanish Trail Road, three buildings were heavily damaged. Preliminary estimated were than 24 units were destroyed and about a half dozen more suffered minor damage. A search and rescue operation looking for a possible victims trapped in debris continued well into the night.

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Uninjured residents were evacuated, with many transported by bus to an American Red Cross shelter at Cokesbury United Methodist Church at 3300 Summit Boulevard. There were no confirmed injury reports from the apartment complex.

There were also scattered damaged reports, including destroyed structures, along the tornado’s path from Northpointe Boulevard to Scenic Highway, including reports of damage in the Yacht Harbor subdivision.

Numerous road were closed as of early Wednesday morning, including:

  • Old Spanish Trail at Olive Road
  • Harbor Square at Olive Road
  • Squire at Olive Road
  • Holgate at Olive Road
  • Northpointe at Olive Road
  • Scenic at Olive Road
  • Northpointe and Lavorde
  • Olive Road and 9th Avenue

Road will be opened when power lines and debris are cleared. Residents will get priority access to the area.

For more photos, click here.

Photos for NorthEscambia.com by Kristi Price and other, reader submitted. Click to enlarge.


Comments

18 Responses to “Apartments, Homes Destroyed As Apparent Tornado Rips Two Mile Path(With Gallery)”

  1. Zmom on February 24th, 2016 10:52 pm

    @Puddin
    My daughter goes to PSC which is on 9th Ave. and she had no problem getting there this morning!

  2. BG on February 24th, 2016 9:27 pm

    TO: Melodies4us….Answer……..GOD

  3. justice on February 24th, 2016 9:11 pm

    Residents of rentals made uninhabitable by this storm. You are entitled to refund of pro-rate rent and full security deposit refund less any oustanding fees and rents but they can’t deduct for damages since they cannot assess. Encourage the owner or management comapny to donthe right thing and expedite your refund. Know your Rights.

  4. Century on February 24th, 2016 4:33 pm

    Feeling for y’all.
    We know it’s rough but slowly getting better here as it will there.

  5. Vernon on February 24th, 2016 2:23 pm

    Just thankful no fatalities because property can be rebuilt.

  6. mick on February 24th, 2016 11:11 am

    Within a mile of the house…

  7. Melodies4us on February 24th, 2016 11:07 am

    How can a tornado cause such severe damage and no one has been injured?

  8. Puddin on February 24th, 2016 9:58 am

    This is not the best February I can remember. Glad no one here was hurt. Prayers for the families who lost loved ones to the west of us.

    Tg- he will respond quickly, not only because this is a more affluent area. But also because he received so much flak from last weeks disaster.

    Mr. Malcolm Thomas made a bad choice. School should have been closed, or at least delayed today. The road closures made getting anywhere this morning a mess.

  9. Century Resident on February 24th, 2016 9:39 am

    It’s 9:30 AM the next morning, he’s already there “with help on the way”.

  10. gatorbait on February 24th, 2016 9:33 am

    Gov Scott is on his way, after the fiasco he made in Century, he gets it this time. Gov Scott do your job and what you was elected to do. Represent the People.

  11. North Escambia - the forgotten part of the county on February 24th, 2016 9:20 am

    Dear Gov. Scott,
    So has Escambia County now reached the allotted amount so you will now help Century?
    Sad that more folks have lost their homes.

  12. chris in Molino on February 24th, 2016 9:07 am

    @tg
    Of course he’ll respond much faster. Look at the damage in comparison to Century. Look at the monetary value in comparison to Century. Look at the major roads being shut down in comparison to Century.

  13. Liza on February 24th, 2016 8:43 am

    Always have a small duffel bag packed with extra clothes/important papers then if your house is destroyed you will have something to take with you.

  14. tonya jordan on February 24th, 2016 7:57 am

    Praying for that was in the path of this storm and may God bless each and everyone of you..

  15. Trina Coburn on February 24th, 2016 7:02 am

    Thoughts and prayers to everyone dealing with this storm. We were at Sacred Heart Hospital visiting our newest grandchild when the storm came through. We lost power several times. A stop sign was slung into the parking lot. A handicap sign hit a car and there was tons of debris covering the road too. God bless and good luck.Hopefully mother nature will calm down and remember that we are not part of tornado alley…I can handle hurricanes you have time to prepare and even evacuate. Tornadoes are the evil ones they come and go destroying everything in their path.

  16. tg on February 24th, 2016 6:19 am

    Lets see how long it takes Gov Scott to respond to this one.

  17. veronica nowling on February 24th, 2016 5:56 am

    That bottom picture is my son’s dad’s home. Please pray for my son’s dad & step mother in this devastating time. Things can be replaced but it’s still heartbreaking.

  18. 429SCJ on February 24th, 2016 3:51 am

    Thank the Lord that no one was killed.

    I would say that Escambia county is starting to look like a disaster area, but then what do I know as I am not the disbursment (disbursement) official.