Tornadoes rip through Oregon Coast, major damage in Manzanita

Two tornadoes touched down in Oregon on Friday, October 14, 2016, including one EF2 that damaged several city blocks in the coastal town of Manzanita. This round of severe weather across the northwestern US is still not over and it is already one for the record books. Portland NWS had never issued more than three tornado warnings in a single day; on Friday it issued ten. The storm is expected to surge through Saturday, October 15, walloping west of the Cascades with gusts that could reach as great as 160.9 km/h (100 mph).

Manzanita suffered heavy damage to buildings, homes and trees after a waterspout came ashore at around 15:25 UTC (11:25 EDT) with winds that topped 209 km/h (130 mph).

The National Weather Service said the tornado was an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. 

Late Friday, the NWS and the Tillamook County Sheriff 'said 128 structures were damaged in a half-mile [0.8 km] stretch from Ocean Beach to Highway 101.'

The damage is about 2 to 3 blocks or 225 yards wide [202.6 m] and caused “minor to major” structural damage. The city manager said at least 28 homes were damaged and the town lost a third of its trees, KOIN6 reports.

Nobody was injured.

Manzanita damage from a tornado, October 14, 2016. Credit: Michael O’Loughlin via Twitter

Unconfirmed reports mention 80 knocked down trees. 

In total, the twister traveled about 1.1 km (0.7 miles).

The city declared a state of emergency in order to deal with the cleanup and aftermath.

EF2 tornado confirmed in Manzanita. Max winds 125-130 mph. This data is preliminary and subject to change before final publication. pic.twitter.com/VvXd3s2tuU

— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) October 15, 2016

Oregon tornadoes and damage on October 14, 2016

The second tornado also started as a waterspout and briefly landed in nearby Oceanside, NWS said.

The storm that battered the northwestern US is still not over but it is already one for the record books.

Portland NWS had never issued more than three tornado warnings in a single day. On Friday it issued ten.

More than 21 400 customers remained without power in the Seattle area Friday night, Puget Sound Energy said on its website. Seattle City Light said that around 800 people were still without power Friday night, the NBC reported.

The storm is expected to surge through Saturday, October 15, walloping west of the Cascades with gusts that could reach as great as 160.9 km/h (100 mph).

High winds arriving by late morning or early afternoon Saturday. Prepare for localized power outages, trees and branches down. #orwx #wawx pic.twitter.com/13Pi7cqcNB

— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) October 15, 2016

Read more: Severe weather expected in Northwestern US, urban flooding, mudslides and power outages

Featured image credit: AP (via YouTube)