When Olean McCaskill opened her restaurant at 7 a.m. on Friday morning, the wind blew her doors in, spraying rain and leaves on the red tile floor.
“The tornado came through, and it was tearing stuff up. I could hear it,” McCaskill said.
McCaskill, the owner of Olean’s Cafe on Adams Street, said she heard loud bangs and popping noises, which she suspects were power lines falling.
More coverage: Tallahassee tornado live updates: woman killed; 70,000 without power amid widespread damage
She rushed a customer in to the store through the back door, and then lost power.
Severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado blasted through Tallahassee Friday morning, leaving a large swath of damage – trees snapped in half, tangled power lines, broken windows and twisted sheet metal in parking lots.
The City of Tallahassee expects it will take some time to get an estimated 68,000 people reconnected to the power grid.
McCaskill started cooking at 5 a.m. After the storm, around 9:30 a.m., she was giving away her famous fried chicken, grits, bacon and sausage to community members looking for a hot meal.
Across the street, downed trees and powerlines framed the entrance to FAMU. People drove by and stopped, getting out of their cars to Facetime their friends to show them the damage.
McCaskill’s storefront, however, was left pretty much unscathed, except for a fan that blew off the roof and the branches in her parking lot.
“It’s a blessing,” she said.
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: ‘It’s a blessing’: Olean’s Cafe serves free meals after storm