Tornado Touches Down Damaging Oregon Beachfront Houses

Forecasters say large swells generated by the storm will continue impacting the beaches along the West Coast through the rest of the weekend.

Photo by: David Skirvin Photo courtesy: Tony Gile / Safari Town Surf Shop Other images provided Lincoln County Communications

(LINCOLN CITY, Ore.) - 20 to 30 coastal homes were damaged Thursday night as a tornado slammed into the Oregon coast. The raging storm turned extremely violent at 9:54 p.m.

Oceanfront houses at Roads End, a community just north of Lincoln City, took the brunt of the damage, as the accompanying photo by local resident David Skirvin, shows the result of the storm damage.

Lincoln County Communications reports that Roads End residents saw a large waterspout tornado move onshore and through a section of the community.

"Associated heavy rains with the system caused flooding of streets, and at about 10:13 p.m. lightening stuck the Alsea Bay Bridge in Waldport damaging a light pole and spraying debris onto the roadway," a news release stated.

Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies, Lincoln City Police Department officers, and members of the North Lincoln Fire Department responded to reports of damage in the area. Deputies reported a damage path, about two blocks wide, leading from the beach that stretched about three blocks to the east.

The damage mainly consisted of broken windows and downed trees, but one of the homes in the 7400 block of Logan Road suffered extensive damage.

Tony Gile who owns Safari Town Surf Shop in Lincoln City, told Salem-News that he's never seen anything quite like this.

"I have seen some radical weather living on the Oregon Coast for 20 plus years. I have even been evacuated out of our home due to rising flood waters back in, I think, 1999. I have however never seen a tornado, or heard of one damaging homes in Lincoln City."

Other witnesses told TV reporters today that they are glad most of the buildings damaged were vacant vacation homes. Some believe there would have been fatalities if those residences had been occupied.

Emergency responders checked the area and reported that no one was injured. LinCom advises that at this time, most of the home owners have been notified of the damage.

To make matters worse, power in the area was knocked out by the tornado and utility crews are working to restore services.

As unusual as a tornado in this part of the country may be, the National Weather Service said meteorological data supported the existence of a tornado, but that the classification could not be determined until the damage is examined in daylight.

Among the reported damage are roofs torn from vacation houses, garages and sheds destroyed, broken windows and plenty of damage to trees and vegetation.

Vehicles were also damaged in the tornado, and the excitement may not be over yet.

One particular wave on the Oregon coast is increasingly becoming known around the world as a top quality tow-in wave, often with faces as high as 25 and 30 feet. I asked Tony what his reaction is to these conditions, as a surf shop owner.

"As far as the surf goes it was what we call victory at sea the last couple of days and almost nobody is venturing out in these conditions."

"Even the tow in guys need calmer conditions on the beaches to tackle the large outer reef waves and it is a mess out there. I did however have to turn a few people away who wanted to go surfing and rent equipment from our shop yesterday and today. I guess they just have not learned yet how powerful the ocean is and how small we are in comparison."

Accuweather.com reports that large swells generated by the storm will continue impacting the beaches along the West Coast from Washington to Southern California through the rest of the weekend.