Large cleanup under way after tornado hits Yulee

YULEE, Fla. — Utility crews and neighbors could be seen cleaning up several neighborhoods in Yulee Friday, as the area recovered from a tornado that touched down the day before.

Darlene Baker and her family had watched the storm from the window of their home on Dick King Road.

“The wind was going so fast, you could actually almost see it,” she said. “My husband was up at the window. He says, ‘It’s moving the boat, there goes that tree!’”

They were safe, but their brand new camper wasn’t.

Baker says the strong winds uprooted a large tree, knocking the camper upside down.

“We never stayed in it,” said Baker.

On Riverwood Drive, Lynn Boyd watched crews remove a tree that had fallen on her car.

She said her windshield may be broken, but her spirit isn’t.

“It’s a car,” she said. “There could have been lives lost, it’s just a little car.”

She said she and her children were at her sister’s house. When the tornado hit, they went inside their laundry room to be safe.

“We couldn’t find my car,” she said. “That’s when we realized the neighbor’s tree tried to eat my car.”

Nassau County Emergency Management officials were out assessing the neighborhoods for damage.

Red Cross volunteers also brought food, water and cleanup supplies out to homeowners.

“We’re lucky. Praise the lord nobody got hurt,” said Boyd. “That’s all that matters.”

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