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In their headquarters by the St. Johns River, American Red Cross officials were printing out materials about tornado drill exercises Friday evening when someone spotted the waterspout outside.

Not knowing if the swirling funnel would make landfall, emergency officials herded volunteers who were there for a disaster training class into the basement.

As it turned out, National Weather Service experts said later they didn’t believe the storm system that lingered over the river ever made landfall as a tornado. It began after two weather systems intersected in southern Putnam County, lead forecaster Scott Carroll said.

The waterspout was visible in the downtown Jacksonville area for about 15 minutes starting about 5 p.m. It seemed to make its way toward the city’s downtown from the Westside before dissipating near the Fuller Warren Bridge.

At nearby St. Vincent’s Medical Center, some hospital staff began tracking the storm about 20 minutes before it became visible at the waterfront facility, spokeswoman Candy Bowen  said.

Bowen said she first learned about the waterspout from a photo posted on Jacksonville.com’s Twitter account. After she went outside and saw it rapidly heading for the hospital, she began to “freak out.”

But while hospital officials put personnel on each floor on standby, they didn’t have to evacuate any patients. Outside the hospital, there was flooding later on Riverside Avenue.

Authorities blamed lightning strikes for two house fires that left a total of seven people

temporarily homeless. One fire was at 5769 Birds Nest Lane  on the Westside. The other was at 5085 Ripple Rush Drive North  in Mandarin.

The bolt ripped a 6 foot-by-3-foot hole in the roof of the Mandarin home while four people were inside. They were able to get out safely, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue spokesman John Bracey said.

The Red Cross responded to assist an adult and two children left stranded by the Westside blaze, agency spokeswoman Christian Smith said. Authorities said firefighters had both blazes under control within about 20 minutes.

Rescuers also believe weather may have played a role in a crash on Interstate 295 near Interstate 95 on the city’s southern side. Firefighters carved the driver of a tractor-trailer out of his rig after that vehicle and wrecker that was towing two cars were in a crash. They took both drivers to area hospitals, but their injuries weren’t believed to be life-threatening.

Starting at about 6 p.m., the Coast Guard and other agencies began searching the water near the Buckman Bridge after a report of four people on a vessel in distress. By 7:15 p.m., Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Cindy Beckert  said the search hadn’t turned up a vessel and authorities couldn’t confirm whether it existed.

On their Web site, JEA officials reported power outages for about 8,300 customers by 6 p.m. Firefighters also got about 10 reports about downed wires within the hour of when the water spout appeared.

Throughout the early evening, Red Cross officials remained on alert at headquarters while waiting for damage reports to filter in. When they didn’t arrive, the volunteers went home, to return to headquarters today for more disaster training.

Times-Union writers Josh Salman and Jessie Lynne-Kerr contributed to this report.

bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4161

Times-Union photographer Kelly Jordan recorded video of the water spout around 5:30p.m.

CONTENT & PHOTOS provided by www.jacksonville.com