OCALA, Fla. – A microburst was the likely cause of damage to an RV community in Marion County, weather officials said.
Four campers were damaged and part of the roof was torn off a house Sunday in the Oak Tree Village Apartments and Campground near Interstate 75 north of U.S. Highway 27.
Several blocks away, a mobile home was nearly split in half when a large oak tree fell on top of it. No one was home when the tree crashed onto the home.
The National Weather said it was likely a microburst, not a tornado, that caused the damage. According to NWS, a microburst is a downdraft in a thunderstorm that is less than 2.5 miles in scale. Although microbursts are not as widely recognized as tornadoes, they can cause comparable, and in some cases, worse damage than some tornadoes produce, the NWS said.
No one was hurt, but the Red Cross is helping families affected by the damage.
Meanwhile, in Orange County, a family was forced to find a new place to live after a tree smashed through the roof of their mobile home Sunday night on Fisherman's Paradise Road near Lake Apopka.
No one inside the home was seriously hurt.
It's unclear if weather caused the tree to fall.