Rare tornado touches down in Northern California causing widespread damage
Dec 15, 2024, 11:40 AM | Updated: 1:04 pm
Police officers check on the damage to this vehicle from an EF1 tornado that touched down in Scotts Valley, California. (Photo: Scotts Valley Police Dept.)
(Photo: Scotts Valley Police Dept.)
A rare tornado in Northern California over the weekend did serious damage and left several people hurt.
A 30-yard-wide, EF1 tornado traveled about a third of a mile with 90-mile-an-hour winds in the town of Scotts Valley, near Santa Cruz.
It overturned cars and knocked down trees and power lines, causing several injuries.
“It’s literally crazy,” one local resident said as she surveyed the damage. “Like, how does this happen in Scotts Valley?”
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A Cal Fire battalion chief was on duty when the tornado flipped his vehicle. He was not seriously hurt.
But there were other very serious injuries. Medics transported one person to the hospital in critical condition.
Most of those injured were in cars that flipped over.
Officials believe the tornado was only on the ground for five minutes, but did significant damage in a short amount of time. It flipped several vehicles and tore down power lines.
The Scotts Valley Police Department says at least five people were hurt.
A huge tree fell onto the roof of Scotts Valley Middle School.
Evan Escott is a former student at the school and only found out about the tornado when his mom called in severe distress.
“She’s like, ‘Where are you?'” he recalled. “And I was like, ‘I’m in Santa Cruz. What happened?'”
“‘A tornado hit Scotts Valley!'” she exclaimed.
“I’m like, ‘What do you mean a tornado hit Scotts Valley?'” he said. “What?'”
The tornado heavily damaged the city’s retail district. The main road through town was closed Saturday as officials assessed the damage.
On Sunday morning, about 3,600 customers in the region remained without power, according to PowerOutage.us. Homes and businesses reported power outages in Seaside, Livermore and Monterey.
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The storms also flooded some areas.
Those who live in Northern California may be more familiar with earthquakes than tornadoes, but they do happen. The state has about eleven tornadoes per year, on average, according to the Weather Channel.
The National Weather Service also issued the first tornado warning in recorded history for the city of San Francisco. Later it determined damage in the Bay Area was from straight line winds and not a tornado.
According to the Weather Channel, San Francisco actually had a confirmed tornado once before, back in 2005. However, no tornado warning was issued when the twister hit the city that year.
Tom Brock is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Tom’s stories here.
