Tornado briefly sweeps into Buffalo, damaging buildings and scattering tree limbs

A small tornado has damaged buildings, flipped cars and sent debris swirling over downtown Buffalo

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 2 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.

“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. After assessing the scene, a National Weather Service team confirmed that a tornado had touched down on the city’s west side.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Poloncarz said a nursing facility damaged in the storm was assessing whether to move patients. A school sustained damage to some windows, several traffic lights were knocked offline and some cars were overturned, Mayor Byron Brown said.

It is the third tornado reported in Erie County in a month, Poloncarz said. Tornados were confirmed in the towns of Eden and West Falls three weeks ago.