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Restoration work continues after Florida tornadoes

With the final death toll standing at 20, the tornadoes that slammed central Florida on Feb. 2 have been dubbed “Ground-Hog Day Tornadoes” by The Florida State Emergency Response Team.

The groundhogs in Sumter, Lake, Volusia and Seminole Counties likely failed to see their shadows in the aftermath of the destructive pre-dawn winds and rain that decimated a 70-mile stretch of neighborhoods and subdivisions.

Rick Dannenmiller, a Paul Davis Restoration franchisee, said The Villages retirement community in Sumter County had been crushed, and from his viewpoint atop one of the home’s damaged roofs he said he could see the delineation of the tornado’s path. “It looked like the state had been cut in half,” he said.

As of Feb. 9, the Florida Emergency Response Team reported that 1,544 households sustained damage. That included 890 homes classified as having experienced major damage or totally destroyed.

While damage totals in Sumter County were higher overall (645) than in either of the neighboring Lake and Volusia Counties, Central Lake County had 165 households totally destroyed where Sumter had 68.

According to the state’s statistics, western Volusia County near Deland, some 20 miles inland, experienced much more of the storm’s effects than Volusia County residents living on the beach in New Smyrna. The Deland area saw 126 homes totally destroyed to the New Smyrna area’s 22. In overall damage, 436 homes were affected in the Deland area to their neighbors’ across county in New Smyrna: 80.

The numbers indicate that the storm hit hard in Sumter County and Central Lake Counties, lightened up slightly over eastern Lake County, slammed down in western Volusia County and grazed eastern Volusia County before going out to sea.

Restoration team

In his 19 years of catastrophe remediation experience, Dannemiller said he had never seen a path of destruction like the one that slammed into Sumter County.

“It was the widest tornado we ever worked,” Dannenmiller said. “It had to be three blocks wide.”

Maura Toone, spokesperson for Paul Davis Restoration and Remodeling, said franchisees from several locations worked in unison to board up homes, extract water from damaged structures and tarp roofs. In addition to Dannenmiller’s Pasco crew, she said Chris Wiggins of South Pinellas, Kevin Lethers of Polk, Larry Thomas of Ocala, Darren Impson of East Tampa, Jim Ingold of West Tampa and Jerry Saul of Gainesville were also on the scene.

Toone said the crews had tarped over 350 affected homes by Feb. 5, just 72 hours after the storms hit.

“Most of them were tarped by Sunday (Feb. 4) – and boarded up and the carpet removed,” she said.

Rebuilding is expected to continue for several months, according to Ken Sussex, director of marketing for Paul Davis. He said each franchise will only take on what it can handle and will hire local trades people and subcontractors.

Paul Davis technicians will help homeowners and insurance companies evaluate what contents items can be cleaned, repaired and restored to help keep replacement costs down. If possible, technicians will restore individual homeowner’s belongings and store at controlled sites until they can be put back into the affected homes.

The Florida State Emergency Response system established five disaster recovery centers immediately after the tornadoes struck. It reported helping 983 victims in the week following the catastrophe.

February’s tornado was the second-deadliest in Florida history, surpassing a 1962 tornado that killed 17 in the Panhandle but behind five twisters in February 1998 that killed 42 people in central Florida and damaged or destroyed about 2,600 homes and businesses.

President Bush has approved federal assistance for affected counties.