Tribe mostly spared from wrath of powerful tornadoes News Top News Top Story by Kevin Johnson - October 17, 2024October 17, 2024 Bleachers at the Brighton Reservation’s baseball/softball complex were ripped up by a tornado Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Beverly Bidney) Some areas near Seminole Tribe of Florida reservations were decimated by tornadoes spawned during Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, but the tribe emerged mostly unscathed. At the start of a Tribal Council meeting Oct. 14, Chairman Marcellus W. Osceola Jr. said the tribe was fortunate. “Luckily, nobody got hurt. There are other people who are far worse than us, so please pray for them,” Chairman Osceola said. John Auer, the tribe’s chief of police, said two tornadoes occurred on the Big Cypress Reservation and at least two, perhaps three, on the Brighton Reservation. Both reservations and other areas in Glades and Hendry counties encountered power outages. Auer said Big Cypress didn’t have any structural damage, but it was a different story in Brighton where metal bleachers at the baseball/softball complex were tossed and twisted, a 4-H barn was destroyed and a couple residences damaged. The Brighton 4-H barn was destroyed by a tornado Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Beverly Bidney) Shelter options were opened on both reservations for residents who were without power. Damage in the tribe was minor compared to the horror that tornadoes inflicted elsewhere. The Twin Palms RV Resort – about three miles south of the Brighton Reservation – suffered extensive damage with dozens of homes destroyed. The Glades County Sheriff’s Office reported seven minor injuries and no fatalities. In St. Lucie County, a tornado that tore through the Spanish Lakes retirement community killed six people. The property is about 13 miles northeast of the tribe’s reservation in Fort Pierce. Known as Chupco’s Landing, the reservation did not suffer any structural damage. Some fences and trees were blown down on the Lakeland Reservation – which was on the northern side of the hurricane – but it did not lose power, Auer said. The tribe brought fuel to the reservation because of limited supplies at local gas stations. In Tampa, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino became a state-designated shelter for the public. According to Hard Rock, more than 1,000 displaced people used the shelter. Hard Rock and the organization World Central Kitchen combined to serve more than 1,700 meals to people in the shelter at the property and other shelters in the city. “Tampa Hard Rock was opened by (Chairman Osceola) and (Hard Rock Chairman/Seminole Gaming CEO) Jim Allen as a shelter of last resort. It was good for the community,” Auer said. Once a category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton made landfall at the Sarasota-area barrier island Siesta Key as a category 3. It proceeded east across central Florida. At least 24 deaths are linked to the storm, according to a CBS News report. Bleachers at the Brighton Reservation’s baseball/softball complex were ripped up by a tornado Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Beverly Bidney) Damage at the Brighton Reservation’s baseball/softball complex from a tornado Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Beverly Bidney) The Brighton 4-H barn was destroyed by a tornado Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Beverly Bidney) Share on Facebook Share Share on TwitterTweet Share on Pinterest Share Share on LinkedIn Share Share on Digg Share