Heavy rains, strong winds and thunderstorms blew through Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia on Tuesday afternoon, but the area was mostly spared from widespread storm damage and flooding, though there were still plenty of people who were impacted.
MORE: Latest updates on storm impacts, warnings
The entire area was under a Tornado Watch on Tuesday and there were Tornado Warnings issued for multiple counties in the area as the fast-moving and thin squall line that packed winds over 60 mph moved from west to east from 1 p.m. into the evening. A Tornado Watch was set to expire at 6 p.m.
According to the National Weather Service, there was a public report of widespread wind damage and a possible tornado just south of Bayard in south Jacksonville, but that report wasn’t confirmed as of 4:30 p.m.
There was a confirmed waterspout just offshore around 3 p.m. near St. Simons Island, but officials told News4JAX there was no reported damage, according to NWS.
Lightning struck a home in Baker County today but otherwise, officials said there were no reports of damage or injuries. The lightning strike did spark a fire in the home but everyone is safe.
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The Julington Creek area was one of the hardest-hit areas of Northeast Florida. A powerful line of storms quickly blew through around 4 p.m. and there were reports of downed trees.
A total of 4,600 JEA customers were without power around 4:30 p.m. and about 2,800 were along Race Track Road.
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A viewer in Neptune Beach said their neighbor’s deck was ripped off and tree limbs were snapped.
In Baldwin, the worst of the storm came through a little after 3 p.m. and turned the sky dark as rain poured down. There was some thunder and lightning but it moved off quickly.
In Clay County, there was heavy rain, but not enough to cause issues for Black Creek, an area that is prone to flooding. There were also about 2,000 people without power in Clay County and crews were working to get it restored.
In St. Augustine, there were a few people out downtown during the heaviest part of the storm but News4JAX did not see any flooding.
Jacksonville was also spared any serious issues.
The storm did dump 1-2 inches of rain across most of the area.
Others in Florida were less fortunate.
At least four reported tornadoes touched down in the Panhandle and destroyed several homes and businesses. Several people were hurt, but as of 2 p.m., no deaths have been reported as strong storms blew across the state.
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