‘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