Tornado Briefly Sweeps Into Buffalo, Damaging Buildings and Scattering Tree Limbs

BUFFALO, N.Y.—A small tornado took Buffalo by surprise Monday, damaging buildings, flipping cars, and sending debris swirling over downtown.

A spiraling column was caught on multiple videos shortly before 1 p.m. One video showed the cell appearing to move from Lake Erie into the city, which sits on the lake’s shore, sending pieces of roofing flying before quickly dissipating. The National Weather Service determined the tornado began at the shore near where the lake flows into the Niagara River and traveled a 1.4-mile (2.25-kilometer) path.

“It surprised everyone,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference.

In the aftermath, photos showed a car on its roof in a parking lot, street signs bent, and fallen tree limbs across roads and sidewalks.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

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