Tornado Strikes Molino; Cleanup Will Continue

February 19, 2008

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The cleanup continues in Molino today after Sunday’s destructive tornado carved a destructive path through the community. People spent the day Monday surveying the situation, picking up the pieces of their lives the storm left scattered around their community.

The E-F1 tornado destroyed at least four homes in Molino about noon Sunday. Escambia County officials say at least 60 other structures were damaged by the twister along at least a two and a half mile path. At least 20 of those structures suffered major damage. There were no injuries reported.

Meanwhile, the American Red Cross has been going door to door in the Molino area passing out storm recovery kits, providing recovery help and generally just providing a should to lean upon.

NorthEscambia.com has photos of the actual tornado. Click here for the story.

Many homes in the Crest Lane area were damaged, with at least one house destroyed. Other suffered significant roof damage. As the tornado continued on a path to the northeast, it took the steeple off Highland Baptist Church and caused roof damage to the sanctuary. The steeple landed in the church parking lot, damaging at least four cars.

Church members said the service was about to end when they got word of the approaching tornado. Everyone evacuated the sanctuary and sought shelter in the church fellowship hall, a brick building with no windows. They prayed and sang songs as the storm approached, member said.

On Molino Road, near Brickyard Road, several more homes were damaged. The roof was completely gone from several houses and the Masonic Lodge building. One mobile home was flipped upside down and others were heavily damaged.

Gulf Power company cut power to about 4,500 people in the Molino area as a safety precaution. Power lines were down all around the area with many poles snapped in half. Electricity has been restored to most areas. For more information on the power situation, click here for an additional story.

For a complete NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the Molino tornado, click here.

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