tornado
A rare tornado rocked residents across the city of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, May 1.

Although there were no reported casualties, the twister caused a number of flying debris and downed trees based on social media posts of residents in the city.

The tornadic event was also a stark reminder that the island is vulnerable to such phenomena after several years of no incidents.


Tornado Touchdown

The tornado reportedly touched down over the Avenida Industrial buildings in Arecibo at approximately 3:00 p.m. AST (local time) on Sunday, reaching one-third of a mile and several minutes before dissipating, as cited by Fox Weather news.

In the short-lived duration, the swirling vortex caused major damage to a warehouse and swept a building's roof in the said area.

The twister knocked out multiple power lines, which reportedly left at least 300 customers without power as of the morning of Monday, May 2, as per PowerOutage.us.

The National Weather Service (NWS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, reportedly categorized the tornado with a preliminary rating of an EF1 under the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The EF Scale is a measurement used to determine the intensity of tornadoes due to the wind strength, with F1 being the weakest and F5 being the strongest.

Tornado Incidents in Puerto Rico

Since 1950, there are only 21 confirmed cases of tornadoes across Puerto Rico, affecting 16 counties and causing property damage but with no fatalities or injuries, according to the storm events database of the NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Sunday's tornado only occurred after three years since a related tornadic event transpired in Puerto Rico in September 2019.

Furthermore, the recent EF-1 tornado was also the first since an F1 tornado struck the island in August 1974, causing property damage worth $250,000, as per the NOAA - NCEI storm database.

Tornadoes before 2019 were only classified as relatively weak, ranging between EF-0 or F0.