Published: December 03, 2009 11:37 am      

High winds strip roof from Suwannee home

Wind ripped the metal roof off a mobile home on 138th Street in Live Oak during Wednesday's afternoon storm. One person was home at the time but was not injured.

"There was a loud boom and I ran and looked out the back yard but couldn't see anything," said homeowner June Carter. "Then I looked in the front yard and saw pieces of the roof. I had just come home."

Her husband, Robert Carter, was at work at the time.

She said the incident occurred at 3:15 p.m. She said she knows the precise time because the rumble of the roof peeling off knocked a clock off the wall, spilling the batteries. When she picked the clock up awhile later, it read 3:15.

"I wouldn't have known any other way because I was so crazed at the time," said June Carter.

Kimberly Thomas, assistant Suwannee County emergency management director, said no other damage was reported in the county. She said it is not yet clear if a tornado was responsible for the damage. Carter said she didn't see a tornado but told Thomas she heard what sounded like one.

According to the Florida Automated Weather Network, wind speeds topped 43 miles per hour here Wednesday.