Storms, tornado kill 19 in central Florida

Orlando (Fla), Feb 3: Severe thunderstorms and at least one tornado today killed 19 people when they ripped through Florida in the dead of night, tearing homes to shreds, toppling heavy trucks and leaving a trail of rubble.

More than 500 homes, buildings and churches were damaged or destroyed across a wide area of central Florida north of the key tourism region around Orlando. But two of the area's biggest attractions, Walt Disney Co's Disney World and Universal Studios Florida, were not affected.

Rescue teams fanned out in the morning to search for survivors and victims who might still be trapped under flattened homes.

Crunched cars were flung onto porches, and battered sofas and fridges stood in piles of debris scattered over the exposed concrete foundations of houses.

The storm hit at 3:15 am (1345 hrs IST) and a spokesman for the Lake County sheriff's office said at least one and perhaps two tornadoes touched down in a state that ranks only behind the infamous ''Tornado Alley'' in the US Midwest for the number of tornado strikes. Most, such as a twister on Christmas Day last year, cause no fatalities.

''The death toll is up to 19 now,'' said Kevin Lenhart, spokesman for the Lake County emergency operations center.

Christopher Patton, another official at the emergency center, said three were killed in Lady Lake, about 64 km northwest of Orlando, and 11 in nearby Paisley, on the edge of the Ocala National Forest. It was not immediately clear where the other five people died.

Pastor Howard Roszak of the First Baptist Church in Paisley said two teenage boys who belonged to his church were killed.

One of the boys died along with his father, while both parents of the other teen were killed.

'NOTHING LEFT' ''I know all these kids real good. I love these kids. I hear there is nothing left ... just absolutely nothing,'' Roszak said, referring to the home of one of the boys.

About 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States annually, killing on average 80 people a year, and winter tornadoes appear to be more prevalent during El Nino years, when the waters of the eastern Pacific become unusually warm.

''This is something that we've seen here in the past in our state when we've had El Nino conditions in place,'' said state meteorologist Ben Nelson.

In February 1998, a swarm of tornadoes killed more than 40 people in central Florida and injured scores more. One narrowly missed the crowded tourist area that includes Disney World, Universal Studios Florida and Sea World.

The National Weather Service said it believed more than one tornado touched down on Friday but had yet to ascertain that.

Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kim Miller said the tornado blew over five tractor-trailer rigs on the interstate highway in Volusia County at about 3:45 am.

''We saw tractor-trailers littered all over the interstate,'' she told CNN. ''We had a few cars mixed into that.'' The storm knocked out power to more than 42,000 utility customers but only 7,800 were still without electricity by mid-afternoon, an official with the local utility, Progress Energy, said.

Florida's 9 billion dollars citrus industry ''truly dodged a bullet'' since the storms hit on the northern edge of the orange-growing region, said Mike Sparks, chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual. He said the impact to citrus was insignificant.

Florida Gov Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency in four affected counties, allowing emergency funds to be distributed as needed, and went on a tour of the damage.

The Red Cross opened shelters for people left homeless.

Reuters