Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It was a storm that took everyone in the City of Buffalo by total surprise.
A confirmed EF-1 tornado cut about a 1.4 mile swath through the Lower West Side neighborhood on Monday afternoon, leaving behind a path of destruction to several trees, buildings and cars across the downtown region.
The tornado's path started at the Lake Erie shoreline in the new Ralph Wilson Centennial Park and eventually cut through the city before dissipating near the Kensington Expressway at Oak Street. The National Weather Service estimates the peak wind speeds with this storm reached upwards of 90 miles per-hour.
Monday's tornado was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many residents in the City of Buffalo, whether they were simply at work or spending the afternoon at home.
Tom Pappas works at the Neighborhood Health Center at the corner of Niagara Street and Carolina Street, which was one of the several properties in the tornado's path to sustain substantial property damage.
"I was in my boiler room and I heard super loud thunder, and it started getting windy. I felt the wind coming through the door, so I went to the door to try to open it. Could not open it, there was so much pressure," said Pappas in an interview with WBEN. "So I went around to another door, and by time I got to that door, it was already over. Trees were all over the place."
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When assessing the damage in the parking lot of the facility, as well as to the other buildings around the Neighborhood Health Center, Pappas was stunned by what he had seen.
"Our roof didn't really get touched, I checked it already. I think it was from the nursing home behind us, and maybe some other buildings," Pappas noted.
Pappas adds the closest experience to this tornado was the 'October Surprise', which devastated much of the City of Buffalo in 2006. However, Pappas acknowledged this storm is totally different.
For Buffalo resident Katie, her day started at her job in a restaurant along Niagara Street. Like many others in the neighborhood, no one knew what was coming until it was already happening.
"I was at work, just taking care of a customer, when I looked out the window and I saw a tornado. I saw [sheet metal] fly by, so that was pretty interesting. Definitely not something you see every day," said Katie with WBEN.
Katie says there were no warnings on her phone of a possible tornado set to hit the region on Monday. She just hoped that everyone was OK in the immediate aftermath of the tornado, while also hoping for the best with her car, which was on Carolina Street.
"I was actually going to park right where the [sheet metal] had landed [on Niagara Street], so I'm glad I didn't do that. But it was just very shocking," Katie said. "I didn't really hear too much, just because I'm in a loud work environment. Everyone was really shocked inside of the restaurant, but it was cool to see."
After the tornado struck the city and she was excused for the day due to the ensuing power outages, Katie decided to take a walk around the neighborhood to assess the damage herself. Like many others, she was shocked with what she saw.
"It's very chaotic, definitely out of the blue for Buffalo," Katie noted. "I haven't really processed it yet. It's definitely crazy seeing all the trees and everything down everywhere, and I saw a couple of accidents that had happened right after the storm, which was also shocking. Again, I just hope everyone's OK, because there's lots of damage everywhere."
A substantial amount of damage caused by the tornado on Monday was along Prospect Avenue. Several trees were downed by the storm along that street, which left it impassable for several hours.
While Carol was aware of the advisories that severe weather was on the way, she never thought for a moment a tornado was taking a direct beeline for her neighborhood.
"By the time we heard it was coming, it was here, and it just was tremendous wind. Never seen wind like that before, passing through quickly," said Carol in an interview with WBEN. "It was almost like it was on a path. You heard the crashing of the garbage cans and stuff like that. Unbelievable, wet wind like I've never seen before."
In her 40-plus years living in the Lower West Side, Carol says the tornado on Monday compares to nothing that she's seen weather-wise in the City of Buffalo.
"My mom was in the living room and my husband was on the porch. She's yelling at me to go get him, and I'm running towards the door at the same time. I couldn't open this door, [the front] door I could not open because the wind was coming so fast and furious," Carol described. "I'm screaming at him, 'Come on, get up!' And he's hanging onto the chair, like, white-knuckling it because he felt so unsecure there. But nothing like that ever before.
"It's like Weather Gone Wild. It is crazy what has happened. We had an earthquake a couple years ago, of course, we have our snowstorms, but who knew? Who knew this could happen downtown and, specifically, focused in the downtown area? No one. It's unbelievable."
Luckily for Carol and her family, the tornado just missed her house, as the storm cut its path several houses down the block. Regardless, many of Carol neighbors share a similar story to what she witnessed.
"They could not believe it. And it felt different for everyone that I spoke to. We've never seen anything like that before," Carol said. "We don't have power, but we consider it a blessing that we're safe, and we heard that no one really has been injured in the next block. So that's all we can do. We thank God for that."
Just down Prospect Avenue a ways, where the tornado did make a direct hit, Kevin was working from home in his second-story apartment when he heard the commotion just outside his door.
"I can't remember if the dog started barking first or what happened, but I go to look out, I have a really heavy window AC, and it starts rattling. It's like 100 pounds, it starts bouncing up-and-down a little bit. I look out the window, and the trees are kind of sideways. I think I saw a roof from somebody's house blow off the top and get carried away," said Kevin with WBEN. "And then I look and see a bunch of the chimneys on people's roofs are collapsed over on the side, like little Jenga pieces. I was kind of freaking out, so I run downstairs, it basically had finished, and there's all these bricks and debris everywhere. And then I go out on the street, and the trees are all basically tipped over. You can't get through the road at all, and then everybody's coming out, seeing what's going on, that kind of stuff."
The chimney at Kevin and his partner Mary's apartment was also destroyed as a result of the tornado, but other than that, they lucked out on escaping with little-to-no other damage.
"Our chimney blew over, but luckily, we don't have a fireplace that works anyway. So I guess it doesn't really matter," Kevin said.
In addition, Kevin and Mary both say no other neighbors were harmed as a result of the storm that brought down several trees along their street.
As for Mary, she was at work when she received a call from Kevin, detailing what had just happened.
"I didn't believe him. I work in downtown, which is only about 10-minute walk away, and there was really nothing. It just rained a little bit," Mary noted. "Basically, I walked home during lunch, and it wasn't until I literally turned down the street that I saw actually what had happened. It felt so concentrated, the damage. So yeah, I was shocked, because I couldn't understand what he was describing over the phone, because I wasn't seeing any of it until I got on the street."
Like so many in the neighborhood, Mary and Kevin were both surprised by the nature of the tornado that ripped through the Lower West Side and affected so many in the city on Monday. Kevin joked a tornado in the city was not listed on his 2024 bingo card.
"It just feels like we're starting to get everything and anything in Buffalo now. It just kind of feels like nothing's off limits anymore for Buffalo," Mary added.