A tornado tore through the heart of downtown Gulfport Thursday morning.

The top of a 200 year old cedar tree was sliced off and fell into the front section of Yummy's in Gulfport.

The restaurant's owners say they had decided to close the business Thursday after hearing weather reports.

Otherwise, they said, people might have been sitting right where the branch of the tree crashed into the restaurant.

After the tornado, volunteers came with chainsaws to cut up the tree and put it into piles to be cleaned up.

Power lines are down along the streets that line Gulfport's Historic Waterfront Park. The storm pulled up street signs and tossed tree branches.

Emergency crews cleared the power lines and debris from the roads.

Kim Windham-O'Leary said she was in her bedroom when she heard the twister.

"I heard it from the back bedroom and it was like more of a really big shaking, you know, like the windows. So, I came to the front window and I see our car was right here with the back window completely smashed out," Windham-O'Leary said.



