PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — A violent winter storm with 55 mph winds and hail moved through Florida's panhandle and into parts of Alabama and Georgia Tuesday .
The National Weather Service also reports several radar-confirmed tornadoes, and a wind gust of 106 mph recorded before dawn near the coast in Walton County.
Strong thunderstorms and tornado warnings blew roofs off homes, brought cities across the Midwest to a standstill and left people stranded on highways.
In Panama City, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away, police early Tuesday asked residents to stay indoors and off the roads “unless absolutely necessary” as officers checked on damage from the storms, including downed power lines and trees.
Click here to see Tuesday's severe storm impacts in SWFL.
The city is in Bay County, where there had been multiple reports of tornadoes on the ground, Sheriff Tommy Ford said in a brief Facebook Live post.
“We’ve rescued people out of structures,” he said.
