At around 5:12 P.M on April 29, weather alerts sounded across Palm Beach Gardens. Many mistook the blaring noise as an Amber Alert, but little did they know what the weather had in store.

The past two weeks they have been met with heavy rain, thunderstorms, and a seemingly minor tornado scare. This time, the warnings were serious. A confirmed tornado had been spotted in Wellington, just thirty-five minutes outside town lines. News channels were quick to report on the situation and update residents regularly. Although tornadoes are rare on the southeast coast of Florida, they still happen occasionally. However, one of such magnitude is unheard of. The impending disaster made its way through West Palm Beach. 

When it reached North Palm Beach at 5:10 through 5:21 P.M., chaos broke loose. Cars piled up, tiles were torn off of roofs, and the wind became torrential. Much damage was made–as in cars flipped over and on top of each other, and garbage cans flew across the street. All of the damages were right next to the Benjamin Middle School. 

“I live fairly close to school, but there was not much destruction where I live,” says seventh grader Christian Rondini. “Although, later, [when] my family and I tried to go and get something to eat for dinner, there was much damage near us, and the power was out everywhere.”  

Many of the TBS Middle School students have been in a storm this seriously before, even if they may not be in Florida. 

Eighth-grader Natalie Bain, was in a serious tornado while she lived in Texas just a few years ago.“When I lived in Texas there was a tornado like this right over our house and we had to hide in the basement,” says Bain. 

Sadly, the tornado was very close to our school and all the homes around it had a lot of damage. Many of the students live in North Palm and were devastated to see how the storm damaged our community, and the businesses a part of it. “A couple of people’s businesses got shut down because of this tornado,” says seventh grader Gavin Shyroc. “There is a statue shop that has been near our school for as long as I can remember and I am very sad to see it destroyed because of the tornado.” 

The community of North Palm Beach is very sad to be able to witness this tornado and all of the outcomes that came because of it. The community has come together to help build back up the community.