FORT PIERCE, Fla. – A series of large, violent tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Milton hit the Spanish Lakes Country Club mobile home community in Fort Pierce Wednesday, causing significant destruction and four deaths.
“We just ran into the bedroom and hid under the mattress. We are just lucky we are alive,” resident John Otis said of he and his partner, Claudia Peak.
Peak added, “And then about 40 minutes later, the second tornado and we ran in the same place in the bedroom and we could actually feel the house being lifted up and I just kept telling him, ‘It’s not over. Don’t move.’”
Tornado after tornado left piles of destruction in its path: Poles down, cars totaled and houses completely wiped out.
Small planes at the Treasure Coast International Airport were upside down and totaled.
Sanjay Patel, the owner of the Lakewood Park Market in Fort Pierce, shared the scary moments.
“My building was shaking, my doors were shaking -- it was bad,” Patel said. “They told us to get in and I got in, and I could see everything and I got so scared.”
This entire neighborhood, including his store, was without power Thursday as dozens and dozens of power poles were down.
Residents told Local 10 News they feel blessed to be alive.
“It’s a feeling -- you cannot explain it to anybody,” Peak said. “There’s no words.”
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