CARROLLWOOD — Swirling winds felled three large pine trees Tuesday afternoon shortly after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the county.
Richelle Rowe-Pirkle, 50, was at home with her 73-year-old mother at 13314 Golf Crest Circle in Carrollwood Village when the winds picked up and began to swirl.
"Things were blowing in the air. I could see branches, furniture, trash cans, beach balls, whatever blowing across the backyard," she said.
The tornado warning came at 3:09 p.m., said forecaster Ryan Sharp.
"We received one possible tornado report from the public since then, but we like to see the size of the tree that fell before we say it was tornado for sure," Sharp said.
Neighbors were certain it was a tornado that took out three trees, including one that landed on the roof of 13316 Golf Crest Circle.
"That house has several punctures through the roof from the limbs," said Capt. Felipe Perez of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
Perez said no one was home when the trees fell and the house's renters and owners have been notified about the damage.
"It will be their responsibility to clear the trees out the house," he said.
Rowe-Pirkle said the scene that unfolded as she and her mother looked out the kitchen sliding glass doors brought back painful memories of her family's first experience with a tornado.
She said her mother was in a tornado in 1965 in Original Carrollwood, while she and her brother were at Carrollwood Elementary.
"Our home (on Korina Lane), along with many, many others in Original Carrollwood, were totally demolished," she said. "It demolished about every other home."
Today's damage was minimal in comparison.
"The backyard is a total mess," Rowe-Pirkle said. "It shattered a glass patio table, an inch thick, big round glass patio table that she's had. It's in tiny, tiny pieces. It just ripped tiles on the roof."
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