Tornadoes, Floods and Fires!!

It's January and you wouldn't think we would be going through all of this!! I was talking to my sister and during the conversation, I heard an "oh, no"!! Their garage was flooding from the rain and it the weather forecast called for rain all night! This morning, I awoke to this news -- which continues and will probably continue throughout the day! We used to live just south of Polk City so it feels quite close to home! (This is from Channel 10 in Tampa.)

I-4 closed, three dead in Polk pile-up

Near Polk City, Florida - FHP has shut down I-4 both directions from the Polk Parkway (570) to US 27 in Haines City. This is near SR 559 & CR.557 (Old Grade Road) in Polk County. Visibility is extremely limited due to smoke from brush fires in the area, and fog.

Three people are confirmed dead. There are at least 50 known vehicles involved with 20 of those being semi tracker trailers. Several individuals are still entrapped at this time and rescue crews are working to get them out. There are also over turned tankers.

Several agencies are on scene working the crash. The emergency crews are having difficulty getting to the scene due to the smoke and traffic backups.

The accidents are a result of smoke from yesterday's brush fire that started as a controlled burn. The fire has burned 500 acres so far. Division of Forestry officials say the dry conditions and the freeze conditions last week could mean more of these types of fires this wildfire season.