© T. J. Gonzalez/The Statesman-Journal/AP This home was among several dozen damaged or destroyed by a twister in Aumsville, Ore., on Tuesday.
A tornado struck a small Oregon town on Tuesday, tearing roofs off buildings, hurling objects into vehicles and homes and uprooting trees.
At least three homes were destroyed, as was the police chief's office, while dozens of properties were damaged, KGW TV reported.
"It literally came at an angle and just dropped down. The winds were so fast. My windows are shattered and I have glass all over in my house," Aumsville resident Vince Catron told KGW. "It looks like somebody just came through our house and just shook literally everything in it ... We have houses all around us destroyed."
No injuries were reported. There were early reports that some people had been trapped in cars.
The heaviest damage seemed to be in the central part of this town of 3,560 people located 45 miles south of Portland. Twisters are rare in this part of the country - just three others have touched down in the region over the last decade.
"We saw a trampoline fly over a church. It was like the Wizard of Oz," said Gara Adams, who works at Neufeldt's Restaurant on Main Street in Aumsville.
MaryAnn Hills, Aumsville City Administrator, said a plumbing fixture store across the street from City Hall was severely damaged.
"There's maybe a quarter of the building left," Hills said. "Most of it ended up on the house next door."
Hills said people in her office listened as "the loudest hail I've ever heard" pounded the roof of the building. Then, a funnel cloud appeared and debris ripped from the roofs of houses began to fly toward downtown.
Justin Profitt, 22, said he was watching a movie in his bedroom when he heard a rattling noise and looked outside to see his fence had fallen.
"I was freaking out," Profitt said. "I have lived in Oregon all my life and I never thought I would actually see a tornado."
Joshua Farrer said he looked outside his house shortly before noon and saw a manufactured home roll three times in the severe wind. He saw an outdoor table and a trampoline fly by his house.
"When I heard it coming over the house, I thought the house was going to come down," Farrer said.
Gerald Macke, of the National Weather Service in Portland, said the tornado touched down at about 11:45 a.m., according to reports from emergency managers who spotted the funnel cloud.
Macke said the emergency managers reported seeing people trapped in cars by fallen power lines and trees knocked over.
The weather service has sent storm gathering teams to the area, who will use GPS devices to help measure the breadth of the storm and its wind speed.
For resident Stefania McCully, it was simply huge. "It sounded extremely loud outside," she told KGW. "My lights started to flicker and I opened the blinds and I saw the huge tornado behind my back yard. The sucker was probably three times as big and up to the sky. It's just creepy, the thing was so big ... I'm just a little frazzled."
We live about 30 miles from this little town.