A fast-moving thunderstorm brought damaging winds, hail and widespread debris across southern Broward County on Friday evening, leaving behind torn fences, downed power lines and several damaged planes at North Perry Airport.
Storm hits Miramar neighborhoods
In Miramar, the neighborhood near Sunshine Boulevard and Southwest 27th Court was littered with debris. Downed power lines and shed pieces were scattered across driveways and at least one street remained closed Friday night due to storm damage.
Joana Klaiss, a resident of the area, described the frightening moment the storm struck while she and her children were inside their home.
“As that happens, you just see wind and I start telling them to get inside and get away from the windows because all I saw was the shed—I thought it was a trampoline—start coming towards the house,” Klaiss told CBS News Miami. “Not even realizing my whole fence was going to be taken out also.”
Home surveillance video captured Klaiss pushing her teenage son back inside as wind conditions quickly worsened. Pieces of a neighbor’s shed ended up tangled in power lines in front of her house. Nearby, a resident’s patio terrace landed on their roof along with a mango tree.
“It was scary, but it happened so fast that it didn’t hit me until after,” Klaiss said. “I’m just glad everyone is okay and I just have to deal with the damages.”
Another resident, identified only as Eaton, described intense hail and whipping winds.
“I just see a lot of ice just coming down. That was the hail. And then the rain just come down. Then five minutes passed and everything just started spinning like this, so I just got behind a column,” he said. “God good! Yeah, without God there is nobody.”
Damage at North Perry Airport
In nearby Pembroke Pines, strong winds damaged multiple aircraft at North Perry Airport, prompting an emergency closure of the facility.
“At approximately 6 p.m., the area surrounding North Perry Airport (HWO) experienced a severe thunderstorm, which brought strong damaging winds,” said Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport spokesperson Arlene Satchell.
“Several aircraft were severely damaged. As a result, HWO is closed until 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 24 to allow the Broward County Aviation Department to continue an initial damage assessment at our general aviation airport.”
Hail, power outages and limited visibility
Throughout the county, residents captured images and video of hail collecting in plant pots and yards. Visibility dropped dramatically during the storm, making for a treacherous evening commute.
In Pembroke Pines, long-time resident Wendy Gomez said the storm felt like a “mini hurricane.”
“It lasted for 20 to 30 minutes. There was a lot of rain and the power flickered a few times,” Gomez said. “We had hail, a lot of strong wind, but everything held up—just a few branches fell.”
“The gusts were very strong. That’s why I called it a monsoon. Me and my daughter were saying, what are we having, a little mini hurricane?”
Police said several power lines were knocked down near Palm Avenue and Northwest 72nd Avenue, leaving some homes temporarily without electricity.
Florida Power & Light crews were seen in affected neighborhoods Friday evening, assessing the extent of the damage and beginning the recovery process.
