The unthinkable happened more than 12 years ago in The Villages and Lady Lake.
It was in the wee hours of the morning of Feb. 2, 2007 – Groundhog Day – when a tornado formed near Wildwood in the wee hours of the morning and then roared through The Villages and Lady Lake before moving east across the Sunshine State.
The EF-3 tornado, packing winds between 155-160 miles per hour, cut a path across the then-south side of The Villages, leaving in its wake about 1,300 damaged or destroyed homes and other buildings, including the Mallory Hill Country Club.
It then plowed into Lady Lake and demolished the Lady Lake Church of God before killing eight people as it slammed into mobile home communities off Griffin View Drive.
Five hundred homes and other structures were later damaged in the Lake Mack area and 13 people were killed before the storm eventually damaged homes and other buildings in New Smyrna Beach. The damage estimate for the storm topped $132 million, with $62 million of that being in Sumter County and $10 million in Lake County.
There were no deaths and few injuries in The Villages. But stunned residents could be found walking the streets early that Friday morning, many not sure what do to about their damaged homes and vehicles and unsure of where to go or what to do next.
One Villager who lived on Golden Ridge Drive said he was on the way to his restroom around 3 a.m. when he heard the tornado coming. He said he saw the front of his house starting to buckle so he dove for cover behind the bar separating his kitchen and dining room as the windows and portions of his front walls imploded. And he shared how thankful he was that a family member who normally slept in a front room that was covered in glass shards had been out of town visiting friends.
Once the storm moved out of the area and it was safe to go outside, several recreation centers quickly open their doors as emergency shelters. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and The Villages Public Safety Department responded quickly and started searching for victims and going to house to house to check on residents.
The devastation was particularly bad in the area of Cane Gardens Country Club. And in several villages, including Poinciana, Sunset Pointe, Sabal Chase and Mallory Square, to name a few, many homes were either destroyed or suffered extensive damage.
Many residents took refuge at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center. Many of them spoke of hearing the “roar” before the tornado crashed into their neighborhoods and homes. And they shared stories of houses with roofs missing and windows blown out as they made their way clear of their damaged villages.
One street near Cane Gardens, Van Buren Way, was hit particularly hard. A Sumter County sheriff’s deputy and a journalist worked together to evacuate the neighborhood because a gas leak had erupted near a damaged home. There were some scary moments as the gas spewed throughout the tight-knit neighborhood while the evacuation effort unfolded one damaged home a time.
At one house, the roof had collapsed and beams were below the top of the front door. At another the entire back of the home was missing and the residents had long departed. And at another residence a group of neighbors were huddled in the kitchen, far away from the rooms that were either demolished or had windows blown out.
After being told they needed to leave immediately, a woman inside the house grabbed the journalist’s sleeve and pointed to a fairly new Lincoln Continental on its side in the front yard.
“That’s my car,” the woman muttered several times. “But I don’t live here,” she added, saying she lived about a block or two away.
As the sun came up that morning, so did the recovery effort. Gov. Charlie Crist came arrived quickly, toured the area and received an update from then-Villages Public Safety Fire Chief Mike Tucker. The governor quickly offered state assistance and President Bush declared the four-county region a federal disaster area. And large trucks owned by builders were sent by the Developer to the damaged neighborhoods to help with the cleanup efforts.
Two days after the tornado roared through the area, parishioners gathered amid the debris for a Sunday morning service at the destroyed Lady Lake Church of God. Pastor Larry Lynn led the service from atop a makeshift pulpit in the rubble. And the governor spoke to the congregation during the emotional outdoor service.
News anchor Katie Couric also visited the area shortly after the storm. Villages lore has it that she went on an all-out search to find displaced retirees bunked down in emergency shelters. And she apparently was quite upset when she couldn’t find a single Villager in one of shelters because all of those who had been forced to leave their homes were either staying with friends in the community or nearby family members.
Not surprisingly, work to rebuild and repair homes in The Villages commenced quickly. While the work was under way, a sea of blue tarps could be seen on damaged rooftops. But new homes quickly started to spring up where rubble had been left behind and before long, the affected neighborhoods started to look the same as they had before the tornado hit. And Villagers were thrilled to be returning to their homes amid neighborhoods that were closer than they had ever been before.
