Tornado rips through Scotts Valley, several injured as emergency crews respond

SCOTTS VALLEY —  A tornado touched down in Scotts Valley Saturday at approximately 1:30 p.m. — flipping vehicles, tearing down power lines and trees and leaving five vehicle passengers injured.

“Dispatch had a report of heavy winds and a possible tornado touchdown in Scotts Valley in the area of Mount Hermon Road and Lockewood Lane,” Scotts Valley Battalion Chief Andrew LoFranco told the Santa Cruz Sentinel at the scene. “On Scotts Valley Drive, multiple ponderosa pine trees were down. That’s significant because those are really big. And when we came to the scene all of the wires were down at one end, so it took us a while to get through the energized lines.”

About seven vehicles were overturned and five were injured when a tornado touched down near Mount Hermon Road and Lockewood Lane in Scotts Valley Saturday afternoon. (Aric Sleeper – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

LoFranco said about seven vehicles were overturned from the weather event and five people were injured. He said two of the passengers received moderate injuries and chose not to go to the trauma center, while two others were transported there by ambulance. Another with a non-critical injury was transported to Dominican Hospital.

Mount Hermon Road was shut down as a result, between Scotts Valley Drive and Lockewood Lane, the Scotts Valley police said in a statement.

“That was all due to the heavy winds that hit the area,” said LoFranco. “PG&E are working on de-energizing the lines and they will come in and support these fall hazards because there’s about five (power) poles that need to be secured and then we’ll open up the road.”

LoFranco pointed out that the camper shell of one of the flipped pickup trucks was found about a half-mile down the road near the Comerica Bank.

Numerous power poles were toppled and misaligned along Mount Hermon Road after a tornado ripped through Scotts Valley Saturday. (Aric Sleeper – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Santa Cruz resident Dan Sleeper was in his parked vehicle in the parking lot of Nob Hill Foods at the time of the event.

“I was just about to do laundry and all of the sudden it started hailing,” said Sleeper. “Maybe less than a minute later, branches were flying around and slamming on top of my truck and they were not branches from any of the nearby trees. Then, this lady approached me and told me that a tornado just hit Mount Hermon and there were cars flipped over.”

Those involved in ongoing response and safety operations include the Scotts Valley police, Scotts Valley Fire District, AMR Ambulance Service, PG&E, The California Highway Patrol, Scotts Valley Public Works, California State Parks and nearly all city personnel, the police said.

 

According to the National Weather Service, the stormy conditions late Friday and early Saturday caused wind gusts of about 70 miles per hour in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Parked cars along Mount Hermon Road in Scotts Valley were beat up by flying debris when a tornado touched down in Scotts Valley Saturday. (Aric Sleeper – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

“We had a pretty strong front that moved through the region late last night and early this morning,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Cynthia Palmer. “It produced very strong winds along the immediate coast with wind speeds in the Santa Cruz area around 45 to 55 miles per hour.”

Palmer said there were wind gusts in the mountains upwards of 70 miles per hour and even higher in surrounding areas including Monterey County.

“It came fast and furious,” said Palmer. “

Palmer mentioned that after Monday, the weather should be clear Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the low to mid 60s.

“It should be really nice,” said Palmer. “We just have to get through the next system Monday, but that one doesn’t look like it should have nearly as much of a punch as this one.”