Video shows tornadoes overturned cars, damaged businesses in Northern California

A rare tornado caused significant damage in Northern California on Saturday as the spiraling vortex overturned cars, damaged homes and businesses and left thousands without power.

Photos and video from Santa Cruz County show the town of Scotts Valley hardest hit, with Christmas shoppers hiding due to severe weather in the area.

In a video, a woman can be heard shouting, “Let’s go home, let’s go home,” as debris fell on the couple’s car on a main road at around 1:30 pm local time.

Local officials said several people were injured and significant damage was caused by the brief tornado, which was determined to be an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds of 90 mph.

The Scotts Valley Police Department said some local roads remained closed throughout the evening and were expected to remain closed until at least Sunday morning.

The purpose, police said, was to allow repairs to damaged power lines and other equipment and to allow crews to remove debris and other hazards from the roadway and surrounding areas.

Several hours earlier, San Francisco had been issued the first tornado warning as a powerful storm system ravaged the state.

A National Weather Service survey team examined the damage caused by the powerful storm and estimated that straight-line winds of approximately 80 mph were responsible for the damage.

During the peak of the severe weather, PowerOutage.us reported more than 128,000 power outages in the Golden State, the majority of which were located south of the Bay Area and in the Sierra Nevada.

According to NOAA databaseTornadoes are rare in large parts of the western US.

Since 1950, there have been fewer than 500 tornadoes in California, causing injuries but no deaths.

According to the NWS office in Sacramento, an average of 11 incidents occur each year and are most common during the spring and fall.

The atmospheric river phenomenon that caused the recent round of severe weather is expected to subside on Sunday, before another round of heavy rain reaches the coast on Monday and Tuesday.