“Everything was knocking down, it was terrible”: High wind event, possibly a tornado, damages buildings in Montebello
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Montebello possible tornado: A look at the aftermath
Montebello possible tornado: A look at the aftermath 05:13
LOS ANGELES COUNTY — A high wind event caused damage to the roofs of at least five buildings in Montebello at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Multiple vehicles in the area appeared to be damaged by debris from the wind. The Royal Paper Box Co. building in the 1100 block of Maple Ave. shows extensive roof damage from aerial footage. Other buildings in the area of Maple Avenue and East Washington Boulevard were also damaged.
“We heard a big bang and thought it was a car accident,” said witness Miriam Braxton. “We saw this huge cloud of debris.”
Braxton said she saw nails, dust, and pieces of building collapse onto her car and others.
Michael Chee, city of Montebello director of public affairs described the conditions as the wind event took place. “From our windows here at city hall, there was an extreme amount of rain, a lot of wind, it was very dark and it was a very intense cell that moved through the area. That’s basically what we experienced,” said Chee.
There are reports of injuries and one person was taken to the hospital.
Cell phone video from the area showed portions of rooftops being ripped away in Montebello, and other debris swirling in an circular pattern in the air. Another video showed a funnel-like cloud forming above the area as rooftops are ripped away.
“There was a big wind and everything was knocking down, it was terrible,” said Ricardo Bastidas, a UPS worker who witnessed the event.
The National Weather Service had issued a Tornado Warning for Southwestern LA County and Central Ventura County until 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
“It was honestly so scary to witness,” said Braxton.
KCAL News Meteorologist Paul Deanno commented on some cell phone footage of the wind event. He warned people to take cover should this happen elsewhere.
“If we can go back to that cell phone video, all those little things, that look like little things are actually pieces of roof and pieces of large debris that are being thrown around, probably at a minimum of 50 to 60 mph. If any one of those things were to hit a human being, that would cause a lot of damage,” said Deanno.
Doyle House — who has worked in the affected area for 39 years — described what he saw and the aftermath.
“This tornado, what it was, it stuck across the street from my building, into this alley and it bounced off the wall like a top, just picking up pallets, 20-pound pallets flying in the air and just bouncing in this corner,” said House.
As he surveyed the damage with KCAL News Reporter Michele Gile, he noted the industrial building was just freshly painted white last month, and now it’s covered in black-looking soot from the roofing material that was blown off the roof and swirled around.
There have been three confirmed tornadoes in Los Angeles County since 2007, and Wednesday’s wind in Montebello may be declared the fourth.
As to why was there was no warning, Deanno explained how this one to two-minute weather event took everyone by surprise.
“Sometimes the pieces of the puzzle that come to a tornado, or significant weather event aren’t seen in advance. In this particular instance, the general environment was conducive for it (a tornado) but this particular storm whipped it up and got rid of it in like a minute or two, which does not afford the weather service the opportunity to warn you in advance,” said Deanno.
Around 12:25 p.m. Wednesday the NWS said it was tracking a strong thunderstorm near West Covina, moving northeast at 15 mph. According to NWS, it is capable of producing a weak tornado or strong downburst winds.
KCAL-News Staff