2012 Lake City, Florida tornado

The 2012 Lake City, Florida tornado was one of the largest tornadoes in history of Florida, assigned a rating of EF4. It happened on April 19, 2012. Major damage occurred in Lake City, with 18 deaths and 162 injuries. Of the deaths, 13 were direct and 5 were indirect. It was part of the 2012 Super Outbreak, the second largest in history.

TORNADO SUMMARY

The supercell associated with this storm formed at 3:00 pm on April 19, 2012. An indirect fatality occurred when a tree was knocked over onto a boy.

The tornado touched down at 5:23 pm that evening, destroying a farm at EF2 intensity. Later, the tornado resulted in a fatality when a car flipped over 12 times and crashed into a pole. It neared a yard, pictured right, while causing two fatalities; a woman in her mobile home and a man hanging onto a pole. Smashing into Lake City at EF4 intensity, 313 homes and 32 cars were destroyed. 14 people were killed in the town. A storm chaser chasing the storm further away was killed when his car was wrapped around a tree on rain-slicked roads. It was an indirect fatality because the tornado didn’t pick it up, the roads were slippery and the car sliced in two and (the pieces) collided together. The tornado dissipated at 5:57 pm, after being on the ground for 34 minutes.

AFTERMATH

Overall, 18 people were killed and 162 were injured. Electricity was restored to Lake City on April 22. About $1 billion of damage occurred. The city fully recovered in February 2013.