{"id":383119,"date":"2026-08-28T01:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383119\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:34:12","slug":"central-florida-storms-leave-trail-of-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383119\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Florida storms leave trail of destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">CENTRAL FLORIDA \u2014 A powerful storm system moved through Central Florida on Wednesday, leaving a trail of destruction from Brevard County to Seminole County. While the weather caused significant property damage, officials confirmed that no one was injured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">In Port St. John, residents on Aloha Avenue were shaken by a loud strike just after 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">\u201cIt was like a big BOOM!!!\u201d said neighbor John Semos, describing the moment lightning struck feet from his home. \u201cMy cat jumped and just about hit the ceiling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">While the initial scare happened early in the evening, fire crews didn\u2019t arrive until closer to 11 p.m. when flames became visible on a neighbor\u2019s house.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">\u201cThey just smoldered all that time I guess,\u201d Semos said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Firefighters arrived to find a carport burnt black, a motorcycle ruined, and damage to the homeowner\u2019s new pickup truck. Crews worked quickly to extinguish the flames before they could spread further.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The severe weather wasn\u2019t isolated to Port St. John. About 30 miles south in Palm Bay, first responders dealt with a massive crater caused by the storm. Aerial views showed a caved-in roof, while ground-level shots revealed crumbling columns and collapsed walls at the business complex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Further north in Seminole County, the same storm front brought dark clouds and heavy hail, disrupting the evening commute for many drivers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Despite the intense weather and the visual drama of a rainbow forming after the storm passed, the primary concern remained safety. In Port St. John, firefighters ensured the fire was completely out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The good news is that despite the charred carport and damaged vehicles, the structure of the home remains sound and repairs can be made. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">No injuries were reported in any of the incidents across the three counties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\">Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\">click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wftvapps.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787880852_212_APP DOWNLOAD LOCAL_1541693885678.jpg_13622062_ver1.0.jpg\" width=\"100%\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph body-copyright\">\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CENTRAL FLORIDA \u2014 A powerful storm system moved through Central Florida on Wednesday, leaving a trail of destruction&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[147,145,28,30,29,139,144,146],"class_list":["post-383119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-central-florida","tag-channel-9","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-orlando","tag-wftv","tag-wftv-channel-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}