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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2019)
‘City of Roses’ Volume XLVIII • Number 24 Vancouver fireworks will be largest in Northwest Happy 4th of July! See Metro, inside www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • July 3, 2019 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver A rare tornado touched down in northeast Portland early Monday evening causing widespread damage in a mile long path, including these two trees which toppled over against a single home at Northeast 16 Avenue and Going Street. Tornado Hit Rare EF-0 twister leaves path of destruction by D anny p eterson t he p ortlanD o bserver Power was restored and debris began to be cleared for northeast Portland residents Tuesday morning after an ex- tremely rare tornado uprooted several trees, damaged ve- hicles and houses, and cut off power for over 2,000 people early Monday evening. The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-0 tornado touched down in northeast Portland’s Alberta and Vernon neighborhoods, traveled about a mile, and ended in the Alameda neighborhood. The maximum width of the path was 40 yards and its estimated peak wind was 80 miles per hour. Amazingly, no injuries were reported. The tornado only lasted about six minutes and its classification was on the lowest end of the enhanced Fujita scale, but it still wrecked mayhem for a stretch of blocks along Northeast Going Street, between 16th and 22nd Avenues. In one case, two uprooted trees—each about four feet in diameter—fell on top of a single house, damaging both the property and adjacent sidewalk. The tornado also tore shingles and chimney bricks off of roofs. “This is quite remarkable,” said Harriet Watson, who lives near Northeast Fremont and 38th, upon inspecting the damage close up for the first time Watson did not witness the tornado form herself, which occurred on her 73rd birthday, but saw “a very dark steely gray sky” loom ominously shortly before it hit. “We had just a smattering of rain on the windshield and we thought, there’s going to be a downpour, but we never thought there’d be a tornado.” she said. C ontinueD on p age 12
