A rare tornado touched down in California on Saturday, overturning cars, damaging roofs, and leaving several people injured.
Authorities said that five people had been injured by the mid-afternoon twister that downed trees and power poles and damaged street signs, according to Bay Area station KRON 4.
Several people were transported to area hospitals around Scotts Valley, which is located less than an hour from San Jose in Santa Cruz County. Their conditions remain unknown.
“The Scotts Valley Police Department, along with numerous partnering agencies, worked tirelessly throughout the night to repair damaged equipment, restore power, and reopen the city’s roadways, Scotts Valley Police Chief Scott Garner said in a statement.
The police department said that multiple power lines came down and that a road was blocked by debris, sharing pictures of the damage.
Most of the destruction was due to 80-mile-per-hour winds, prompting residents to take shelter. Estimated peak winds were reported at 90 miles an hour.
Residents described the impact as “vaguely biblical,” according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
While tornadoes have struck the Golden State before – averaging 11 each year, typically during the spring and fall – the weekend’s EF-1 brought the first tornado warning for the Pacific Coast hub of San Francisco in recorded history.
At 6 a.m. PST, phones blared with emergency alerts that the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management shared on social media: “Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.”
Later, the department issued a statement noting that residents had been “understandably anxious to receive an alert about something [they] don’t associate with [the] region.”
It noted that many San Francisco buildings don’t have basements like other parts of the country where tornadoes are more common.
“Ultimately, we are trending toward more frequent and intense weather events in San Francisco, and while WEAs are alarming, the National Weather Service only sends these alerts when there is a genuine possibility of a life safety hazard,” it said.
San Francisco had a confirmed tornado in 2005, but it came without a warning.
The tornado warning came just days after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake resulted in a tsunami warning for the majority of the coastline.
The storm came as yet another atmospheric river event – bringing a long plume of moisture – bore down on California, bringing flooding threats, strong winds, and knocking out power for thousands.
Substantial flooding in Livermore left two cars stranded. Novato police reported power outages.
On Monday, more than 7,000 California customers remained without power, tracker PowerOutage.US showed.
An active atmospheric river pattern is expected over the Northwest for the next couple of days. Precipitation is anticipated in the state and across the West on Monday.
“For those of you that like rain: the next rainmaker is making its way into California with more rain on the way Friday through the weekend,” the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office said.
With reporting from The Associated Press
