Florida
Surprise tornadoes strike Florida as severe weather threat lingers Tuesday
Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are ongoing now in the state, and some of this activity may become surface based by late Tuesday morning in the north-central Florida vicinity, the FOX Forecast Center said.
PALM CITY, Fla. – One day after two tornadoes struck in Florida, the threat of more tornadoes is likely Tuesday.
Severe weather hit St. Lucie and Martin counties on Monday, resulting in Tornado Warnings being issued for both counties. At one point, thousands of residents were left without power in the two counties, and there were also reports of downed trees in Palm City.
“Not just one, but two of the supercells spawned in this line of storms that kind of tracked across Central Florida,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Jane Minar said.
Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes, with the first touching down near Interstate 95 and the second reported 30 minutes later near Interstate 895.
“Just incredible images for a part of Florida that … there wasn’t much of an outlook for this. This kind of caught a lot of people by surprise,” Minar added.
Fortunately, only minor damage has been reported so far.
On the opposite side of the Florida Peninsula, thunderstorms caused flooding on the streets and stalled cars due to inches of rain falling over a short period in the Cape Coral area.
The FOX Forecast Center said isolated to scattered thunderstorms are ongoing Tuesday. A cold front will push southeastward through the day, and isolated thunderstorms will be possible along the front into the afternoon.
“Florida did see a hefty punch from these storms (Monday), and we’ve got another shot at it today (Tuesday), so don’t let your guard down,” Minar said.
Several supercells are expected to develop, tending to focus across the northern part of Central Florida during the morning and the southern part in the afternoon.
Cities under a Level 1 out of 5 on the severe storm threat scale are Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Cape Coral and Clearwater.
(FOX Weather)
A few brief tornadoes are expected. Otherwise, isolated strong wind gusts will be possible in the strongest storms before the action wanes toward early evening.
Florida
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Florida
Palm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding
Brevard County couple gets married in NICU after birth of premature twins
A Florida couple, told they may not be able to have children, welcomed premature twins and had an impromptu NICU wedding.
Provided by AdventHealth for Children
Ben and Danielle Cassidy were told they likely wouldn’t be able to have children.
But this year they will celebrate Mother’s Day just months after having an impromptu wedding in the AdventHealth for Children hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit shortly after Danielle gave birth to twins prematurely — a week before the Palm Bay couple was scheduled to get married.
Both babies, Joshua and Rhett, are doing well despite arriving nine weeks ahead of schedule on Jan. 19, 2026, just one day after their scheduled baby shower. With a proper wedding out of the question with two premature babies in the NICU, a nurse took action.
Issabel Kenkel, the nurse behind the ceremony, said she was already in wedding planning mode for her own upcoming nuptials when she found out the Cassidy family’s ceremony would be interrupted.
“I couldn’t just let them do something small. They needed decorations and something fun, so I spoke to the music therapist and the chaplain,” Kenkel said. In short order, a wedding was being planned for their hospital room and the couple was saying their vows in the company of their safely delivered newborns.
“When we found out we could request staff members to be on our team, that’s when we requested Issabel and having that kind of consistency from someone who has such a big heart and is so kind,” Danielle said.
The hospital ceremony was all the more special because of the Cassidy family’s own health struggles.
“I have five autoimmune diseases and didn’t really think I would have kids. It’s been a rough journey. When Ben and I met, we were floored at how much a miracle it was to have kids,” Danielle said.
Ben, who battled and beat cancer, said he was worried that his prior treatment would result in negative health outcomes for his future children. Having twins for him was an unexpected blessing.
“When we found out we were pregnant, we found it so shocking. We said, wouldn’t it be great if it was twins? It filled out our hopes and dreams list,” Ben said. “They’ve been miracles for sure.”
The Cassidy couple said there was so much fear and uncertainty when their twins were born nine weeks early. Being able to get married right away just made them feel all the better about the future.
“It was nice getting married because we didn’t have to wait any longer to make it official. It made it that much harder for her to get rid of me,” Ben said.
“The unknown made it scary,” Danielle added. “We had no idea how long we would be in the hospital. Our wedding was going to be at the beach with immediate family and parents. Having NICU babies, we realized we’d never be able to get to the beach. It was really special having the people who care for our babies be part of the ceremony.”
The couple hadn’t even planned to have a band at their wedding ceremony and now the hospital’s music therapist was performing live for them and the chaplain was conducting the ceremony, something nurse Kenkel said was just part of her job.
“The babies are going to have the best outcomes if the families are taken care of and going home happy,” she said. “Being in the NICU is already so stressful. This is just one more thing I could do to take care of my patients.”
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.
Florida
Florida man taken into custody related to call threatening business
The Vero Beach Police Department took a man into custody May 8 in connection with a threatening phone call directed toward a business.
The agency received information at 5:21 p.m. May 7 about a threatening call to Thrive IRC Inc. at 2300 5th Ave. in Vero Beach, according to a news release. The call included someone threatening to come to the business with an AK rifle and “light the building up.”
Detectives began investigating the threat and identified Michael Sean O’Brien, 27, of Vero Beach, as the person associated with the phone number used during the call.
O’Brien was taken into custody at about 3:30 p.m. May 8 without incident. He was charged with the false report concerning the use of firearms in a violent manner, which is a second degree felony, according to the news release.
O’Brien was booked in the Indian River County Jail at 6:13 p.m. May 8 but was released at 1:36 p.m. May 9 after posting the $5,000 bond, according to the jail website.
No additional information was available the afternoon of May 9.
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
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