A tornado hit Northern California yesterday, overturning cars, uprooting trees and destroying power lines, the US National Weather Service and local media reported, quoted by DPA, BTA reports.
The tornado's main center was in Santa Cruz County, south of San Francisco, and photos from the disaster site uploaded to social media show overturned cars and flooding.
The National Weather Service has issued a hurricane-force wind warning for the area, with wind gusts of up to 75 km/h expected today. Local residents are urged to stay away from the area's many beaches. A flood warning is also in effect.
Thousands of households in the area are affected by power outages, DPA reports. In San Francisco alone, 13,000 households are without power, and in the entire state of California - more than 170,000 people.