Tornadoes hit same Pinellas Park neighborhood -- 28 years apart

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - It's been 28 years, but it hasn't been long enough for longtime Pinellas Park resident Karol Singleton, whose house has now been hit by a tornado twice since she's lived there.

People in Pinellas Park spent Thursday cleaning up from Wednesday’s tornado. It left quite a mess, but residents of Elmhurst Drive like Singleton feel lucky.

"I feel blessed then and I feel blessed now," she said.

 Aerial view of tornado damage - 1992 Pinellas Park

Back on October 3, 1992, Singleton says dozens of homes were damaged, most worse than hers.

"It took such a wide swath that you couldn’t tell what street was what," Singleton recalled of the 1992 twister. "Even the police officers had trouble figuring out where they were at in here."

Five tornadoes moved through Pinellas County that day, causing heavy damage and taking four lives.

Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores owned a home on Elmhurst Drive, which he rented to a family. It was flattened.

A teenage boy was the only one home at the time. He survived, but Wyatt said the tornado lifted him up.

1992 Pinellas Park tornado damage - Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores

"Over the mimosa tree in the backyard, which cut up his legs, and he ended up in the lake with the bottom half of his body in the water," Wyatt said.

MORE: 'It's all gone:' Lakeland man survives tornado that wrecked home, cars

As they picked through the rubble, he heard about a woman who had sheltered in a room in her home, but forgot her dog.

"And when she went back to the garage to get the dog, the garage collapsed on her and killed her," remembered Wyatt.

Teen who was thrown by 1992 tornado in Pinellas Park - Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores

The Tampa Bay Area didn’t have Doppler radar in 1992, so there wasn’t much warning for the people on Elmhurst Drive. They never dreamed another twister would find its way there.

"And now this," said Singleton. "It seems surreal almost."

They were spared the devastation of decades ago, but cleaning up comes with a strange sense of déjà vu.

1992 Pinellas Park tornado damage - Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores

1992 Pinellas Park tornado damage - Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores

1992 Pinellas Park tornado damage - Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores

1992 Pinellas Park tornado damage - Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores

1992 Pinellas Park tornado damage - Roger Wyatt of Redington Shores