Tornado in Vancouver

Tornado touches down in Vancouver area
07:07 PM PST on Thursday, January 10, 2008

A tornado touched down in North Vancouver just after noon Thursday and then began moving to the northeast, ripping trees out of the ground, toppling power lines and tearing roofs off homes.
KGW viewer captures tornado on camera
No injuries were immediately reported but dozens of homes and businesses damaged. The boathosue at Vancouver Lake was completely demolished and many rowing shells badly damaged. A semi was also overturned several hundred trees toppled.
The tornado, classifed initially as an EF1 Tornado, hit at about 12:20 p.m. and was followed by several funnel clouds, which are twisters that remain above ground. An EF1 Tornado packs wind speeds between 86 and 100 mile per hour.
The tornado cut a path about a quarter-mile wide and touched down for at least two miles. Leah Edwards Clark County fire District said it appeared that the tornado first touched down in the Vancouver Lake area and then moved east down 78th Street, along Highway 99 and then onto Andresen Road. She said the damage covered an area stretching about four-miles in length.
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Viewers called KGW with reports of other extreme weather conditions including four-inch hail falling sideways, high winds and dark, luminous clouds. Funnel clouds flared up across the region, including in Gresham and Troutdale as late as 2:30 p.m. About the same time, the KGW phones lit up with calls, police scanner traffic swarmed with reports of damage including trees down on homes, car crashes and terrified residents just trying to figure out what to do.
Go to www.kgw.com to see more details.