Tornado rips through Fla. town; at least 2 hurt

APALACHICOLA, Fla. (AP) -- This seaside town was without power Saturday after a tornado tore through the area, damaging several buildings and leaving two people with minor injuries, authorities said.
Some residents were expected to have power restored bu midnight Saturday, said Butch Baker, Franklin County's emergency management director.
Baker said eyewitnesses confirmed that it was a tornado that struck the town of some 2,500 people, about 65 miles southwest of Tallahassee.
"It was like a black wall," Helen Reese, an admission clerk at George E. Weems Memorial Hospital, told The News Herald of Panama City on Friday. "It was coming right at us. It was a horrible noise."
The twister hit a power substation and damaged several homes, a hospital and the roofs of an elementary school and a fast food restaurant, Baker said.
During the power outage, Baker said residents could get services in nearby towns. "We have the availability of food and water and restaurants within a 10 minute drive," he said.
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