Wellington Community Hit by Tornado Ahead of Hurricane Milton Making Landfall

Dressage

U.S.A.

The Wellington and Loxahatchee community got assaulted by a tornado ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall in Tampa.

In the afternoon round 16h00 on 9 October 2024 a tornado swept through the Wellington community, destroying farms and houses on its path.

A funnel cloud moved along the western edge of Wellington from Big Blue Trace to Loxahatchee Groves. Witnesses saw it move north toward Northlake Boulevard. The tornado went through the Aero club and rampaged the communities The Preserve and Binks Estate along Deer Path Lane. Trees were felled, vehicles picked up, screen porches destroyed, and roofs damaged.

International dressage riders Kelly Layne (AUS) and Bianca Berktold (USA) saw their house and farm severely damaged.

Berktold took to Facebook, "we are all safe and so are the horses! So there is that! But OMG I am lost for words! If you got a chainsaw and a truck and feel like helping us tomorrow we will be forever thankful!" Layne posted, Steve and I are okay. Our house not so much."

This tornado was once of a series that spawned in south Florida ahead of Hurricane Miltonmaking landfall in the Sarasota/Tampa area. Touchdowns were reported in the Everglades, Fort Myers, and Palm Beach County.

Tornadoes produced by hurricanes and tropical storms most often occur in the right-front quadrant of the storm, but sometimes they can also take place near the storm’s eyewall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.