Videos shared on social media showed the moment a waterspout loomed over Panama City Beach in Florida.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for parts of the Florida Panhandle on Saturday, including for Panama City, Lynn Haven and Callaway.
On Saturday morning, Kerry Wright shared a video, showing her view of a large funnel cloud moving across the Gulf of Mexico and towards the shore.
Roaring winds can be heard in the clip, captured from a vacation rental on Thomas Drive along Panama City Beach.
Lila Lambert took to Facebook with videos capturing the stormy conditions over the Gulf of Mexico from a resort on the beach.
One of the clips she posted showed what appeared to be a waterspout moving towards the shore.
In one clip, a voice can be heard saying "I'm scared."
"Go get away from the windows, now," another person is heard saying.
"Morning started out calm then a water spout developed and came right at us," Lambert wrote on Facebook, adding that she had "not had a very good first impression of PCB."
Meanwhile, meteorologist Spinks Megginson shared a striking shot of the waterspout on Twitter.
"Waterspout (technically a tornado over the northern Gulf driven by a parent mesocyclone) near Panama City, FL earlier," Megginson wrote alongside the image, which was captured by a local.
The tornado did cause some damage when it made it to land, according to videos posted on social media.
Footage posted on Twitter by user @AudiaMcGee showed a building with a collapsed roof in Panama City.
Waterspout (technically a tornado over the northern Gulf driven by a parent mesocyclone) near Panama City, FL earlier. Photo from Peggy Keroack. @NWSTallahassee @StormHour pic.twitter.com/0LevpaFtAo
— Spinks Megginson (@rzweather) April 10, 2021
The National Weather Service (NSW) in Tallahassee said tornado damage surveys will be conducted on Sunday.
'The National Weather Service in Tallahassee Florida will dispatch a damage survey team to inspect damage from Saturday morning's line of severe thunderstorms," the NSW said in a statement.
"The areas of interest will be in Bay County and in and around Panama City, Walton County in and around Defuniak Springs, and Gulf County in and around Wewahitchka. Preliminary information from these surveys will be made public as soon as it's available."
On Sunday morning, the NSW issued severe thunderstorm watch for parts of Central Florida. The warning, which is valid until 4 p.m. EDT, said "a couple tornados" could possibly hit the region on Sunday. Scattered gusts of up to 75 miles per hours were likely and hail up to the size of ping pong balls was also possible, according two the advisory.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
