--- description: Two people were killed and several children were injured when tornadoes and severe storms tore through southwest Florida early Sunday title: Tornadoes Kill 2 People, Injure Several Children in Florida image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Florida](/tag/florida/) ## Florida Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tornadoes Kill 2 People, Injure Several Children in Florida  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 17, 2016 4:27 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 17, 2016 4:27 PM CUT Two people were killed and several children were injured when [tornadoes tore through central Florida](http://www.timesunion.com/news/us/article/2-dead-several-injured-after-severe-weather-in-6765179.php "undefined") early Sunday, authorities said. A storm ripped through the town of Duette, about an hour south of Tampa, killing one couple and injuring their son and four grandchildren who were all sleeping inside their mobile home at the time, Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube said at a news conference Sunday, according to the Associated Press. Steven Wilson, 58, was killed immediately, while his wife, Kate, died from a heart attack after being taken to a hospital, the AP reports. Their son, also named Steven Wilson, crawled out of the debris and rescued his four children from the home. They were between 6 and 10 years old, and all sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to Steube. “I’m amazed to see anybody got out of this alive,” Steube said. At least two tornadoes touched down in Florida, one in Duette and the other one in Siesta Key, [according to local media reports](http://wfla.com/2016/01/17/one-dead-several-injured-homes-damaged-from-tornados-in-sarasota-and-manatee-counties/ "undefined"). The twister that hit Duette had winds of up to 125 miles per hour and traveled for about seven miles, the [National Weather Service](http://www.weather.gov/ "undefined") said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4183769/tornado-florida-storms/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4183769/tornado-florida-storms/"},"headline":"Tornadoes Kill 2 People, Injure Several Children in Florida","datePublished":"2016-01-17T16:27:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:06:24.422Z","description":"\"I'm amazed to see anybody got out of this alive\"","url":"https://time.com/4183769/tornado-florida-storms/","keywords":["Florida"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/florida/","name":"Florida"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4183769/tornado-florida-storms/","name":"Tornadoes Kill 2 People, Injure Several Children in Florida"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Bryan Walsh: Why Tornadoes are So Hard to Predict","description":"TIME's Bryan Walsh explains why tornadoes happen, why they're so hard to predict, and whether climate change has an effect.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DnGe1sm1/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-05-21T16:46:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DnGe1sm1.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4183769/tornado-florida-storms/","duration":"PT2M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4183769/tornado-florida-storms/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```