A tornado was sighted on the west side of Wellington on Wednesday afternoon, hours before Hurricane Milton was expected to make landfall in Florida.
The first sighting came from a Wellington resident who spotted the tornado near Lion Country Safari, west of the village. Later reports indicated it moved through Aero Club, a community on the village’s western edge where residents store and fly private planes. Village Mayor Michael Napoleone reported that the tornado passed through the Binks Forest neighborhood, and he was able to see it from his patio.
Kyle Anderson, a resident of The Acreage, said he witnessed the tornado as it passed by a Publix supermarket near Southern Boulevard and Binks Forest Drive in Loxahatchee Groves. He described the sound as being similar to a freight train. Residents in Westlake, located about 8 miles northwest, also spotted the tornado around 5 p.m., reporting heavy rain and strong winds.
The tornado may have continued north toward the Avenir neighborhood in western Palm Beach Gardens, which borders The Acreage along Northlake Boulevard. By 5:15 p.m., fire-rescue crews were responding to reports of a tornado causing damage to multiple homes and downing power lines.
Social media posts also indicated that Jupiter Farms, located north of Avenir, experienced tornado damage on Wednesday afternoon. The western communities and the rest of Palm Beach County remain under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. tonight.
The Wellington tornado is one of several confirmed across South Florida as Hurricane Milton approaches. The hurricane is expected to make landfall in Tampa later tonight as a Category 4 storm.
In preparation for the hurricane, Palm Beach County officials ordered evacuations for residents in Zone A, which includes mobile home communities and low-lying areas.
