PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As stormy skies hit the region, video from the La Center, Washington area captured what appeared to be a weak funnel cloud on Wednesday.
The video, caught on camera by Nathan Bruce, shows what appears to be shingles flying through the air as a small funnel cloud appears and then disappears.
The National Weather Service in Portland confirmed that a “brief tornado” hit the La Center area.
Lightning and thunder were possible on Wednesday as strong rains and high winds hit the region. Meanwhile, officials were warning of waves of up to 25-feet were possible on the Oregon Coast as the storm hit.
“I was looking out the window and I saw this really ominous cloud. I was like wow. I saw it had a little finger coming down and I was like that looks like it might be a tornado,” Bruce said.
Bruce and his family have lived in La Center for the past few years and say they’ve never seen anything like that while living in town. As Bruce got his phone camera out and went out to get video, he saw more rotation and said it looked like it touched down at one point.
“Then it started coming in this direction and then I noticed the debris coming up and I saw some shingles coming off the roof of an adjacent house,” Bruce said.
Besides some trash cans knocked down as well, Bruce says luckily, there was no major damage since he never heard any alerts or warnings come through.
“I knew there was some potential for some thunderstorms this afternoon but I didn’t see any indication of tornados or warnings or anything in advance,” Bruce said.
Other La Center residents captured the funnel cloud on camera, with aftermath including a trampoline damaged. Bruce says he was in the right place at the right time to see it all unfold.
The tornado in La Center badly damaged a trampoline (Courtesy: Ashley Huni).
“There’s only been a few in the last 10 years so it seems like a pretty rare thing and I was glad I was able to get it on video,” Bruce said.
The same neighborhood was also near the water drops for the Jenny Creek Fire back in August. Residents say while they’re used to fire season, Wednesday’s tornado was out of the norm.
