What residents are calling a microburst ripped through a portion of West Ferris around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon.
Accuweather describes a microburst as "a small column of exceptionally intense and localized sinking air that results in a violent outrush of air at the ground. It is capable of producing damaging straight-line winds of more than 100 mph that are similar to that in some tornadoes, but without the tornado's rotation."
Damage was contained to a swath about 20 yards wide and 500 yards long, stretching from Manitou Street to the Kate Pace Way on Booth Road.
Carmen Anello witnessed the unusual storm when he was driving by Marshall and Prince Edward.
"I was driving down Prince Edward Drive and all of a sudden I saw leaves kicking up and next thing you know I saw a red full-size umbrella from a patio set about 60 feet in the air," stated Anello on Facebook.
"Trees were falling down, leaves and branches were flying all over the place," he added noting that he felt like he was right underneath it.
Some witnesses called the storm a tornado but a funnel cloud has yet to be reported.
Benoit Bourdeau, who lives at 15 Regent Court, witnessed a tree he planted 35 years ago, be uprooted right before his eyes.
"I was in the kitchen getting supper ready and then I heard some noise, I look outside up front and I see stuff flying," described Bourdeau.
"I saw a hockey net and bricks flying and a basketball stand flying, and as for the tree, I couldn't believe it because it was a healthy tree, I still don't know. Was it a tornado? I don't know," added the Regent Court resident.
Nearby Gil Pharand witnessed the same bizarre storm that came out of nowhere.
"You just saw stuff flying all over the place in the cul-de-sac here. It only lasted like about 15 or 20 seconds, and then all the neighbours came out to look at all the damage," said Pharand.
"You see trees down and siding all over and my barbeque cover was in a tree, like I said, it did not last long but it was intense."
The storm also left trees covering the Kate Pace Way, making it completely unpassable. (See our photo gallery)
Justice Clancy of 37 Charlton Crescent and a volunteer firefighter in the East Ferris Fire Department told BayToday she was in the middle of cooking supper.
"It sounded like big thunder and the power went out. The dehumidifier went off so I fixed that and as I was walking back to the kitchen I noticed that everyone was outside on the street and I'm thinking 'Oh I wonder what happened'and then I stepped outside to a lovely scene...a tree was down. My entryway was blocked. I had to crawl through a jungle pretty much. And there was a tree on my car."
A firefighter on scene told BayToday's Jeff Turl he believes that it was not a tornado but possibly a microburst.
No injuries were reported.
While the high winds were causing damage in West Ferris, it was clear skies on the north end of the city.
See an example of microburst below.
