power Tuesday evening , according to David Waters , the county Emergency Operations Center spokesman . A Brevard County tornado that hit about 1:45 p.m. damaged more than 50 homes , leaving nine uninhabitable , according to the emergency operations center . Three people suffered minor injuries , officials said . Fay 's maximum sustained winds remained near 65 mph , with higher gusts , forecasters said . A storm tracker in Moore Haven , near the west bank of Lake Okeechobee , reported winds up to 81 mph in the afternoon . `` Some fluctuations in intensity are likely this afternoon and tonight as Fay moves inland over Florida . Some strengthening is expected when Fay moves over the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday , '' according to the hurricane center . The storm was earlier buffeting Lake Okeechobee with high winds as it moved north and northeast through Florida , leaving a trail of flooding , broken trees and power outages . At midday , the hurricane center issued two tornado warnings -- for St. Lucie and Indian River counties , and tornado watches were in effect for several areas , most of them ending at 4 p.m. .
NAPLES , Florida -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- At least seven possible tornadoes were reported Tuesday in eastern Florida as Tropical Storm Fay battered parts of the state with high winds and heavy rain , the National Hurricane Center said . Fay tore through Barefoot Bay , Florida , south of Melbourne Tuesday . Fay could strengthen into a hurricane when it swings over Florida again Thursday , according to the center . `` This storm is going to be with us for a while , '' said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist . `` Looks like it could be a boomerang storm . '' A hurricane watch has been issued for Florida 's east coast , from north of Flagler Beach to Altamaha Sound . At 5 p.m. , the center of the storm was about 60 miles southwest of Melbourne , the hurricane center said . Fay was traveling north-northeast at 8 mph . Florida Power & Light reported more than 93,000 customers without power in 20 counties . Most of the outages -- 34,000 -- were in Collier County , where Fay came ashore earlier in the day . As many as 9,700 residents in Brevard County were without