Florida Tornado Sparks Sudden Warning: 'Take Cover Now!'

On Friday morning, Florida residents were warned that a tornado was headed their way and they needed to find shelter immediately.

At 6:50 a.m. ET on Friday, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Tallahassee, alerting people that a tornado was headed toward them at 7 a.m. Some schools closed because of the weather, and the storm got so bad that the NWS forecasters in Tallahassee had to take shelter and ask another office to handle the storm warnings.

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People in Lafayette and Taylor County were told a tornado was "on the ground" and to "take cover now!" The NWS advised that residents go to their basements or move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and avoid windows.

"Dangerous situation unfolding for Tallahassee right now," the NWS wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Seek shelter immediately. Multiple circulations and radar-confirmed tornadoes apparent on radar."

The storm is expected to damage homes and cars and mobile homes could be destroyed. The latest NWS warning said the storm was north of Perry and northwest of Steinhatchee and was moving east at 70 miles per hour.

Tallahassee Community College closed on Friday because of the severe weather, and Leon County School District spokesperson Chris Petley said that schools were left without power. Parents were advised to prioritize their families' safety above attending school on Friday and decisions to close were made on a school-by-school basis. Several schools also canceled their AP exams.

The storm knocked out power to more than 65,000 people, according to the city's power outage map. Posts on X showed downed trees and out-of-order traffic signals. Some videos early Friday morning also showed damage to several buildings. The City of Tallahassee asked people to stay off the roads if they could to help clear the way for first responders.

In January, Florida experienced its strongest tornado on record for that month when an EF-3 hit the Panama City area. It was the first tornado of that magnitude to hit Florida in January.

The tornado in Florida follows a two-week streak of damaging storms. At least one tornado has been reported in the United States since April 25, according to CNN, and on Thursday, 60 million people were at risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

At least three people have been killed in the recent storms, and a dozen people were injured by the tornado that ripped through Maury County in Tennessee.