People joke that if you don’t like Florida weather, just wait five minutes. That’s never felt truer than it has this past month. One week, the state was shivering through a record cold. Next, it felt like summer showed up early. But last Monday in Venice, things got completely out of hand.
For residents in Venice Isles Estates, the storm on Monday, March 16, will be one for the record books. As soon as the storm passed over, neighbors spilled outside to clear branches, trade wild stories, and try to process what had just happened.
The scariest part? It happened to a local woman who never saw it coming. In the chaos, a sudden gust hit hard and actually lifted her clear off her feet. People watched, stunned, as the wind spun her a few times and hurled her fifteen feet before dumping her on the ground. The rain and wind drowned out any chance for her cries to reach help. Eventually, rescuers found her, bruised and shaken, but alive. She’s now in recovery. The neighborhood hasn’t stopped talking about it since.
The storm tore at least one roof clean off, and plenty of people admitted they were unprepared for just how quickly the weather turned. Meteorologists from the National Weather Service are reviewing footage and photos, trying to determine if a brief tornado or a waterspout hit the community. They clocked winds at 50 miles per hour or more.
Damage stayed mostly within Venice Isles Estates, but the storm signaled a big shift in the weather. Cold air blew in right afterward, causing temperatures to tumble by nearly 30 degrees. Cleanup continues, and emergency officials aren’t ready to let their guard down, and they’re advising boaters to continue to watch out for rough water and strong northeast winds that should stick around through the end of the week.
