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Storms were overhead and the wind was gusting.

North Fort Myers resident Helen Jones, 77, was enjoying retirement late Sunday afternoon in the mobile home she has lived in for 33 years. She was in her recliner, leaning back, watching television peacefully, she said. Her daughter was asleep with the family’s 2-year-old Pomeranian, Taz.

Jones didn’t have any idea a tornado swirled in her path. She didn’t have a clue her home would soon be destroyed.

Jones’ home in the Western Acres agricultural subdivision — near where Business U.S. 41 meets Del Prado Boulevard going into Cape Coral — would be one of dozens of mobile homes damaged as a tornado dropped down in north Lee County, carving a path of destruction for miles.

Jones’ daughter, Connie Jones, 49, was trying to get some sleep before heading to BJ’s Wholesale in Cape Coral for the late shift stocking shelves.

“The wind just sounded funny and I got out to the kitchen and the whole thing started to move,” Connie Jones said.

The younger Jones said Taz barked right when the storm hit. She couldn’t find him later.

“We thought it sucked him out,” she said, “but we have a hutch and it fell over and protected him.”

The Jones’ home was nearly on its side, its roof ripped off, pieces spread everywhere.

In all, eight manufactured homes received structural damage, according to North Fort Myers Fire District Chief Terry Pye. There was one minor injury, one car had a tree land on it, and 40 mobile homes received minor damage, such as car port roofs being ripped off or sheds being toppled over, Pye reported.

The National Weather Service received reports of a tornado touching down around 4:45 p.m., lifting up and touching on several occasions in north Lee County. The tornado lasted approximately 20 minutes as it moved north toward Charlotte County, according to Nicolas Petro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tampa.

There were reports of two different funnel sightings, and while the NWS is still collecting data, Petro believed that it was only one tornado that caused the damage.

Petro attributed the severe weather to a clash of systems. A strong west sea breeze collided with strong eastern winds to cause the severe thunderstorms that reached as far south as Marco Island.

Expect more thunderstorms Monday, and possibly even more severe weather as an upper-level disturbance off Florida’s east coast moves toward Southwest Florida, Petro said.

“Any time you have two systems clashing you have a better chance of severe storms,” Petro said.

John Jones, no relation, said he witnessed two different funnel clouds. He took cell phone pictures of them forming. The 30-year-old said the tornadoes started near the Sweetbay Supermarket at the intersection of Hart Road and Bayshore Boulevard, about five miles west of Interstate 75 and a few miles north of the Caloosahatchee River. The twisters moved north, he said, toward the other Joneses. He said the storm sounded like a freight train.

Helen Jones’ home received the most significant damage, as it appeared to be a total loss.

“We’re going to have to put another one in there,” Jones said in front of her property, her daughter standing nearby.

Jones said she has no insurance.

“Take all my money, that’s what I’m going to have to do,” Jones said. She had cuts on her ankle and wrist, but was in otherwise good shape. Physically.

“I feel all right,” she said. “Just glad none of us got hurt, that’s the important thing.”

Many of the properties receiving damage were in the Forest Park mobile home retirement community, which is just down the street from the Sweetbay. Fire, law enforcement and victims assistance officials peppered the park in the aftermath, as did the damage.

Forest Park resident Paul Baker, 65, was talking to his wife via cell phone just after two Florida Power and Light crews finished work on a nearby home.

“Those guys from the power company don’t mess around,” Baker told his wife. “They’re used to it in this damn state.”

Power was out throughout most of the area. Traffic signals were down. Businesses were without power.

Throughout Forest Park, residents kept comparing the storm to others, like Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Wilma. A few lots were vacant due to those storms; metal from a nearby roof was lying in one of them.

“I was watching TV, and all of a sudden it was like everything was flying,” said Roseanne Bommarito, 78, whose home had a piece of metal pulled up from its roof and an awning bent. “This was terrible. And you know what’s so bad? It’s hurricane season.”

When Bommarito hitched a ride on a golf cart to Georgeanna McGrew’s house nearby, she got a better look at the damage.

“At least we’re alive,” Bommarito said. “That’s the important thing.”

McGrew’s carport roof was on top of her white home. What used to be her lanai was now a concrete block. Then she noticed the plate her mother had received as a wedding gift. McGrew is 90. The plate is more than 100 years old, she said.

“I just found it in pieces,” she said.

McGrew said she was just finishing a book when the storm struck.

“Well, all at once the house got real light, because all of the covering was going from the windows, and I headed for the coat closet,” she said.

Residents were already helping McGrew repair some of the damage. She was in good spirits, despite the damage.

“I had always said that if this happens to me, I would have the house torn down and sell the lot and go into assisted living,” she said. “But I’m not ready for assisted living. I’ve got too many good years ahead of me.”