Tornado Aftermath 12/26/06

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (location 1)

On Christmas day, a tornado pummeled Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with winds faster than University students can fly their test planes, leaving holes larger than their hangars.
1

BLOWN OUT-Spruance Hall, an administration building on the Embry-Riddle campus, received the brunt of Monday's severe weather. The National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida issued a tornado warning for the Daytona Beach surrounding area at 1:25 P.M. on Christmas day.


2

UNLUCKY NUMBER 13- Corner windows are blown out out of Spruance Hall, an administration building on the Embry-Riddle campus, Tuesday, the day after F2 Tornadoes stormed through the Daytona Beach area. F2 tornado winds can reach 157 miles per hour and turn light objects into missiles.


3

TRASHY- Debris from tornado-struck buildings, like Spruance Hall pictured above, lays scattered across the Embry-Riddle campus. Students on winter break were not in their dorms when storms hit. The Embry-Riddle Safety Department is not allowing students, the public or teachers to enter the campus for safety concerns. Clyde Morris Blvd. traffic remains normal.


4

HOLE IN THE WALL- Holes where objects struck the ICI Center left evidence of an F2 tornado's force from the day before. The ICI Center, usually home of the Embry Riddle Eagles basketball team, has to be assessed for damage.


5

DRIVE SAFELY- A sign of caution stands in front of a battered Spruance Hall, where a Christmas day tornado tore carelessly through the Embry-Riddle campus. The university's fleet of airplanes is being assessed for damage.


6

SHATTERED GLASS- Windows of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's ICI Center are blown out in the wake of a Christmas day tornado. Campus security is not allowing anyone on campus until damages are assessed and buildings are cleared safe to return to.

Sutton Place (location 2)

Fiberglass insulation lay on buildings and branches, like snowflakes, the day after a tornado swirled through Sutton Place apartments on Christmas Day.

7

WALL DROPPING WINDS- The outer walls of this Sutton Place apartment, located on Nova Road in Daytona Beach, were blown down during a Dec. 25 tornado. No one was inside the apartment during the tornado.


8

A CHRISTMAS TREE REMAINS- Kim Hardiman stares at the destruction of an apartment in Sutton Place Tuesday Dec. 26, the day after a tornado trampled a line of apartments in the complex and group of buildings on the Embry-Riddle campus. Hardiman was checking on a friend's apartment in a less affected area of the Sutton Place complex.

Hardiman, an educational specialist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was in her office when the tornado quickly hit. "All I heard were loud noises and then police and fire sirens," she said. "I feel bad for all my students who were expecting to fly planes when they returned [from winter break]."


9

UNEXPECTED LANDING- A piece of roof from a Sutton Place apartment sits tightly between two tree branches the day after an F2 Tornado struck the Daytona Beach area. Sutton Place, located at 310 S Nova Rd. in Daytona Beach, was one of the hardest hit areas.


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PILE OF PLYWOOD-A straight line of battered apartments in Sutton Place, of Daytona Beach, shows the path of destruction a tornado left Christmas day.

"The police have not let us in yet," said Gary Menut, a resident of Sutton Place. "All I know is, I have a broken front window and likely water damage. But I have called and had the cable and water turned off." Words from a resident who won't likely be returning to his home soon.