MIAMI – As Tropical Storm Philippe moved closer to South Florida, a tornado caused some damage in West Miami-Dade Saturday and there was a tornado warning in effect for Palm Beach County.
The National Weather Service reported a tornado caused minimal damage in the area of Bird Road and Southwest 97th Avenue near the Tamiami and Tropical parks. The tornado took down a couple of fences and a storm drain there.
Guido Valdes Hernandez shared a video showing a downed tree over a pickup truck and an SUV at a nearby shopping mall on Bird Road and 92nd Avenue.
"I was standing by the light and I saw a table and chairs flying from a display at a furniture store," Valdes Hernandez said in Spanish.
The tornado warning was in effect in Palm Beach County from Boynton Beach to Palm Beach, east of Loxahatchee. Witnesses reported seeing a tornado near Kravis Center in downtown West Palm Beach and in Boynton Beach.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a Tropical Storm Watch from Craig Key, an island in the middle of the Florida Keys, to Golden Beach, a town in the northeast corner of Miami-Dade County. The Central Bahamas was also under a Tropical Storm Watch.
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine asked residents in at-risk areas to prepare for flooding. Gov. Rick Scott said Floridians also need to prepare for the possibility tornadoes this weekend. Authorities were expecting a maximum total of six inches through Sunday morning.
Meteorologists also issued a Tropical Storm Warning for the Northwestern Bahamas and the Cuban provinces of La Habana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara and the Isla de la Juventud. They also asked residents of the Cayman Islands to monitor the progress of the system.
A cold front will move off northeast Florida and Georgia early Sunday morning. It will reach Cuba by Sunday afternoon and will begin to weaken late Monday.
Local 10 News' Kerry Weston contributed to this report.