Tornado strikes Florida, damages Tallahassee airport

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A tornado struck Florida late Wednesday morning near its capital city, forcing a brief closure of the Tallahassee International Airport and minor damage in other areas. 

The National Weather Service said there was damage to the airport but its radar was not harmed. However, there were communication issues, the agency said.

As of 3:15 p.m. local time, 3,800 customers were without power, officials aid. The city posted photos of a small plane flipped upside down and a damaged hangar at the airport on Twitter.

"The damage assessment is underway at @TLHAirport, which remains closed," the tweet read. 

The airport reopened just before 2 p.m. and runways were back in service a short time later, the airport tweeted. No deaths or major injures were reported. 

"It appears we may have dodged a bullet with this particular storm," said Kevin Peters, director of Leon County Emergency Management, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Some people had a more humorous view of the storm. One person tweeted a photo of a small tree branch as evidence of "tornado damage."

The NWS in Tallahassee warned of a tornado on the ground at 11:43 p.m. The agency ordered everyone to "TAKE COVER NOW!" and move to a safe area to avoid flying debris. 

Damage was reported in the city's Southwood community, home to several state offices, as well as in scattered neighborhoods, WPLG-TV reported.

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The storm moved eventually east toward east. The weather agency said a preliminary investigation confirmed the storm was an EF-0 tornado that moved through portions of Leon County, where the state capital is located. 

Other information such as the path, wind speed, width and length of the storm would be released later.