Tornado near North Palm Beach, Fla. topples trees, flips cars, cuts electric power

Trees toppled and cars flipped when a twister roared through Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. on Saturday, about a dozen miles northwest of swanky Palm Beach.

The tornado, born of severe rain and thunderstorms in the area, touched down somewhere between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m, according to the National Weather Service.

At one point, roughly 7,500 people in the area were without power, reports WPTV, an NBC affiliate in nearby West Palm Beach.

Local meteorologist Jennifer Collins caught some of the tornado on video, posting to her Twitter page what appears to be a car being picked up and dropped by the twister.

Building damage was reported at Sandalwood Estates, a Palm Beach Gardens neighborhood. One resident told WPTV that he grabbed his dog and hid in the bathroom as trees began to fall.

“We ducked down in our car as it went over us,” said Shawn MacNamara, a resident at Sanctuary Estates in Palm Beach Gardens. “Scariest thing ever.”

One image shared on Twitter by a resident of Palm Beach Gardens shows a trio of cars all piled on top of one another, after seemingly being moved during the storm.

WPTV photojournalist Alex Hagan shared that a window was shattered at his North Palm Beach complex and trees were knocked over.

The Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down in the area, and was surveying the damage, said WPBF, another West Palm Beach TV station.