Clean-up underway after Saturday’s tornado

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - Residents are slowly picking up the pieces from Saturday’s storm.

National Weather Service officials in Jacksonville confirm it was an EF1 tornado that touched down in Marion County.

The storm had estimated wind speeds of 110 miles per hour and traveled for roughly 25 miles.

It’s now been two days since the devastating twister passed through the county, and still fallen trees and damaged homes remain.

Some of the hardest hit areas were along State Road 200 and the Saddleworth Green Apartments.

Over at the Paddock Park Animal Care Center, there were six employees at the veterinarian clinic and daycare on Saturday.

“They called me on FaceTime and showed me, it looked like snowed or something, the styrofoam was everywhere,” Paddock Park Practice Manager, Vicki Bennett said.

Bennett said the 57 animals at the practice are all safe.

“We transported all of them on Saturday. We actually had wonderful volunteers that came to help us,” she said.

At the Sullivan Buick and Cadillac car dealership, workers taped off damaged areas, preparing to reopen the business.

“The tornado went through and tore a lot of the stucco off the side of the building and broke one of the windows in the show room, which we’ve already had repaired,” Executive Manager of the dealership, Kevin Eller said.

Employees said some trees also toppled over onto a few vehicles, but nothing serious.

Law enforcement officials said so far they say there have been no deaths and no major injuries reported.

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