AP – A rare Rhode Island tornado lifted a car off a highway on Friday as severe weather swept already storm-weary New England, United States, damaging homes, flooding roads and toppling trees.
Tornadoes were reported in several spots in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts.
The National Weather Service said there were at least four tornadoes in the two states, and it was investigating a potential fifth in eastern Connecticut. No injuries were reported.
Firefighters rushed to help the startled motorist on Interstate 295 in Johnston and found her shaken but unharmed by the tornado, which lifted her car 10 feet off the highway, Johnston Fire Chief David Iannuccilli said. Motorist George Viau saw it all happen, looking on in awe as the funnel appeared and the sedan with its lights on began to spin.
The vehicle spun around at least once before being deposited on the highway near a guardrail, he said.
“Honestly I was little nervous. Maybe more than a little nervous,” said Viau, a commercial fisherman. “I watched what it did to the car, and I wondered what it if comes down the highway toward us. There was no exit.”
The tornado crossed the highway, and also moved through wooded areas and residential neighbourhoods, Iannuccilli said. Meteorologist Glenn Field with the National Weather Service said the tornado was confirmed by radar and carried tree limbs and other debris aloft.
Tornado touchdowns also were confirmed in North Attleborough and Mansfield, Massachusetts, which are about a half-hour’s drive from Johnston, and a tornado was spotted in Weymouth, Massachusetts, about an hour away, the weather service said.
Another touched down briefly in Stoughton, Massachusetts, which is about 40 minutes from Johnston, the service said.
And a fire official said a tornado damaged three homes in North Providence.
The weather service said it expected to release a complete assessment of the tornadoes tomorrow.
