EUSTIS, Fla. — A tornado touched down at Florida Baptists’ Lake Yale Conference Center in Leesburg, Fla., at 3:30 a.m. Feb. 2, causing extensive damage to its North Camp area as a series of storms tore across central Florida in the early morning hours.
Conference center manager Don Sawyer reported that no one was hurt even though about 100 people were staying at the conference center. No damage was done to the main conference center area or the South Camp.
Four North Camp dorms received roof damage and the chapel’s steeple was torn off the roof; doors and windows also were blown out. Power lines were ripped out by the tornado and will require extensive electrical repair. Florida Baptist disaster relief volunteers quickly responded to help with cleanup at the damaged area.
The storms spawned at least 5 possible tornadoes and killed at least 20 people, although no churches reported damage. Gov. Charlie Crist issued a state of emergency for four central Florida counties: Lake, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia.
By noon Feb. 2, disaster relief teams from the Lake County and Marion Baptist associations were assessing damage and clearing debris. Association teams from Nature Coast, Harmony, Lafayette, Greater Orlando, Shiloh and South Florida also were activated. In total, approximately 220 Baptist volunteers were mobilized.
Fritz Wilson, director of Florida’s disaster relief and recovery, said Baptists were working operations in Deland, Lady Lake and Lake Mack. Operation sites were established at First Baptist Church, Deland, and First Baptist Church, Leesburg. Lake Yale will serve as command center for the duration of the recovery.
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