In southern California, United States, the ongoing “winter weather drama” took a wilder turn as a tornado on Wednesday tore through the city, ripping roofs off of buildings and smashing cars around. The tornado, as per AFP, raked the city of Montebello near Los Angeles. Residents were left scrambling for safety as the storm destroyed cars, broke windows and created a “mess.” Aerial pictures taken after the tornado showed several roofs with holes in them, pipes and other installations twisted and broken, and vehicles appear to have been dragged out of their parking spaces.
Speaking to broadcaster KTLA, one local business owner described his experience of suddenly coming face to face with the storm and said he was driving when he “saw this tornado in front of me and had to reverse out.”
Watch | U.S: Recent storm inundated California | WION Climate Tracker
“The tornado took off the roof of the building. All the windows of the cars are shattered. Cars were destroyed, it was just a mess.”
“I saw cars just swivelling through the streets and it was just the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” they added.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said it was investigating the “weak tornado,” and another one that hit Carpinteria, near Santa Barbara. The two storms, as per the weather agency, had winds of up to 85 miles an hour.
As per NWS, the southern Californian storm “damaged around 25 mobile home units and there was minor tree damage to the cemetery adjacent to the mobile home park.”
Nevertheless, “this is a pretty significant tornado by (California) standards since it hit a populated area, clearly caused damage, and may have caused injuries,” writes meteorologist Daniel Swain on Twitter.
This is a pretty significant tornado by CA standards since it hit a populated area, clearly caused damage, and may have caused injuries. (It’s very hard to assess tornado strength from footage like this, but at the very least it appears stronger than a marginal/EF-0 event). #CAwx https://t.co/Minrv5t54Q
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) March 22, 2023
The tornadoes come after an intense storm that ripped through California, downing power lines and leaving thousands without electricity as the region was bombarded with heavy rain and snow.
(With inputs from agencies)
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