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Published on 05/04/1998 All articles from this issue

Freak tornado rages through Los Altos

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Twister injures 1, tears through roofs, trees, power lines

By Joanne Griffith Domingue and Linda Taaffe

Town Crier Staff Writers

No one could believe it was happening. Tornadoes come to Kansas, not California, folks thought.

But about 4:30 p.m. May 4 a tornado blew through Los Altos, first touching down near South El Monte and Almond avenues, then swirling northwest, twisting across Alicia Way, then raging through the back of Los Altos High School, and finally dispelling near Arbuelo Way and San Antonio Road.

Michael Hon, a Los Altos High School sophomore and member of the junior varsity tennis team, was at ground zero when the twister touched down by the tennis courts and baseball field. "I went to get my backpack and tennis stuff, and I turned to run, but I couldn't go anywhere," he said. "It was pretty crazy. I hung on to the fence and almost got picked up - I was in the air for a second or two."

Monica Lodge, athletic director at the high school, was caught and thrown by the tornado, when it thrashed through the school's tennis courts. She was treated in the emergency room for scrapes and bruises. She is the only person known to have been injured by the freak storm.

At the high school, "The batting cage turned into a pretzel," said principal David Brazer. "The dugout was ripped out and tossed against a fence. It had been bolted down every two feet. A Dumpster got thrown about 100 yards, over the other side of the baseball fence."

The tornado did not affect any school programs. A local fence contractor with students at Los High School, Bud Swagart, has offered to "work out a deal" to replace the fences, Brazer said.

Robyn Phillips, assistant superintendent for business services with the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, estimated the damage at the high school to be more than $25,000.

"It's pretty amazing. We're fortunate there was no damage to the new construction," Phillips said. The district is in the midst of a $58 million remodel at the two high schools.

In the streets near the high school, trees crashed onto houses, fences flew apart, five to 10 homes lost sections of roof, windows burst, about 150 trees blew down and electrical wires snapped, said Layne Long, assistant to the Los Altos city manager.

Right in the path of the twister was Los Altos resident Irwin Wieder, a retired physicist who studies lightning, at his Panchita Way home.

He marveled at "circulating debris, some quite high, perhaps 10 or more house heights, and some just above the house tops. Pieces of corrugated plastic from patio roofs, asphalt pieces from roofs, various sized branches, wooden window shutters, some of the green screening that surrounds the (high school) tennis courts were among the debris circulating majestically overhead," Wieder said.

As wind and noise increased some debris started falling. Wieder said he will never forget this "fascinating display."

On Alicia Way, one little girl and her mother hid in the hall closet. "Me and my mom started praying, and I think the praying worked," the girl said.

One man heard his house creaking. Another watched as a boy was almost swept away on his bicycle.

And then, almost as suddenly, it was gone.

Help came immediately with police and fire responding. The city's emergency operations center was opened by 5:35 p.m., Long said.

Emergency response throughout the night included nine police units, seven fire companies, two municipal service center crews, the building official and 12 volunteer amateur radio operators and a Red Cross volunteer.

According to PG&E spokesman Scott Blakey, 4,064 customers were affected due to multiple cases of downed wires. About 2,600 customers had power restored before midnight.

One home was "red tagged," Long said, meaning it couldn't be occupied until the tree was removed that fell on it. Damage was estimated at $70,000, Long said. One home was yellow-tagged, meaning limited occupancy only.

The next morning, "city cleanup crews were there and within 24 hours all the debris was gone," a neighbor reported.

Folks can't say enough about how quickly response came and how helpful people were.

- Paul Nyberg and Bruce Barton also contributed to this story.