Tornado lands in Pico Rivera; no injuries reported

Residents of Pico Rivera expected rain throughout the week, but the unexpected occurred when a mile-long tornado hit the city in the early morning of Thursday, March 13. 

According to the National Weather Service, the Enhanced Fujita Scale classified this morning’s tornado as a high-end EF-0 tornado with 85 mph winds. 

“A storm damage assessment from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Los Angeles/Oxnard, California confirmed that a high-end EF-0 tornado occurred in the East Los Angeles community of Pico Rivera,” a statement from the NWS official report said. “This was a small, weak and brief tornado, which uprooted a few trees, downed numerous large tree branches and damaged roofs. In some cases, trees fell on residences and vehicles, causing additional damage.”

Per the NWS, the tornado developed over the northeast portion of Pico Rivera toward the northeast at around 30 mph along a one-mile track. It dissipated near the intersection of the 605 Freeway and Whittier Boulevard.

The city is asking for residents to report hazards such as downed power lines or gas leaks immediately by calling 911. To report other damages or for those who need assistance related to this morning’s tornado, call the Public Works Department at (562) 801-4421 or visit the city website. 

Pico Rivera City Council member Andrew Lara said in a statement, “The safety and well-being of our residents is our top priority. Early this morning, a brief but impactful EF-0 tornado touched down in Pico Rivera, causing damage to homes, vehicles, and infrastructure. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported. The City immediately activated its Emergency Operations Center, deploying crews to assess and address hazards such as downed power lines and fallen trees.”

“We are working closely with the National Weather Service, LA County Office of Emergency Services, and utility providers to restore services as quickly as possible. We also appreciate the support from Supervisor Janice Hahn, Assemblywoman Lisa Calderon and Senator Bob Archuleta in helping us coordinate resources for affected residents. Our teams are actively engaged in cleanup efforts and ensuring that impacted residents receive the assistance they need. Pico Rivera is a resilient community, and we will get through this together,” he continued. 

The tornado lasted from 3:15 a.m. to 3:16 a.m. and caused the most damage in the vicinity of Glencannon Drive. 

Mercedes Jimenez, a resident of Pico Rivera, lives on the next block over Glencannon Drive. She has to enter her backyard with caution because her neighbor’s tree fell over through her property.

The tree’s roots traveled to her side of the yard and caused damage. There are power lines intertwined on the tree’s branches, too. 

“It was scary, everything happened so fast. I woke to a loud noise around 3 a.m. We saw electricity lights going off. It was a big boom,” Jimenez said. 

One of her dogs alerted Jimenez of something happening before the impact occurred. Her dogs are still anxious hours after the tornado went through their residence.  

“Even my dogs were going crazy. We all woke up, and we all went to the living room. We looked at the windows, and all the neighbors were out. Trees were falling on top of our neighbor’s trucks. There was a lot of damage,” she continued. 

Jimenez contacted the city to assist in removing the tree, but because it’s on her private property, she has to get help from an outside source. She was directed to the fire department and waited for someone to arrive at her home. She also waited for So Cal Edison to inspect the downed power lines. 

Apart from the damage to her home, Jimenez doesn’t have electricity and running water in her home.

A tree fell over on the block of Loch Avon Drive against the wall of someone’s brick wall near her home and broke the main waterline in that area, affecting Jimenez. 

On the same block of Loch Avon Drive lives Erica Cortez with her husband, Daniel, and their children. The couple has run a small business daycare center in their home with their three children since 2017. 

Cortez had to alert parents of the children that the daycare was closed for the day because the home had weak water pressure with tricklings of water in the morning. Without it, they can’t open the daycare.

“If we don’t have water, we can’t service a child safely. We can’t wash our hands before and after a meal. We can’t wash our hands before and after we change the diaper. We started calling parents and telling them, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t service you today because of safety precautions,’” Cortez said. 

Just by closing down for a day, the daycare loses up to three thousand dollars.

“Ten families were impacted today. Some of them are single parents. Some of them, even though they’re not single parents, we are their childcare. The kids, this is their second home so it’s important for them to come. They wanted to come today because we had a whole event doing projects, so they looked forward to it,” she continued. 

Toys, tables, and other supplies were all around Cortez’s backyard that were tossed around because of the tornado. 

“One of our lemon trees was down, so we went to purchase a wood chipper and a chainsaw to fit into the daily trash cans because we’re not a big business and can’t afford a big container,” Cortez said. “We need to make sure that there are no nails or glass. We have to comb through the dirt. Even though we called off the parents, we’re still working a lot.”

It’s important for Cortez to keep the backyard as close to its original state as possible to help one of her daycare children, who is on the spectrum, continue his normal routine. The same goes for all the children, who can continue their daily activities, such as watering the plants in the garden they helped to plant in the backyard. 

“Cleaning up is key, making sure everything looks the same as much as possible so they can come in and they won’t know that something hit us,” Cortez said. 

On the same corner as Cortez on Loch Avon Drive lives Edgar Reynoso, a Pico Rivera resident of 40 years. His wife woke him up around 3 a.m. because she thought there was an earthquake. 

Other city residents also thought it was an earthquake because of unexplained noises they heard. 

“I saw two big flashes on the window. There was a lot of rain and wind [so] I said, ‘That’s not an earthquake, that’s a tornado.’ Since I’ve been in Pico, I think it’s my first time looking at a tornado. My brick wall from the sidewalk of my house fell. It was pretty bad, ” Reynoso said. 

His home was out of water for two hours before it was back on, but he never lost power. 

Seeing all the damage was heartbreaking to Reynoso. “Me growing up in Pico and looking at this for the first time… it was pretty sad. Just be careful out there, please. Respect Mother Nature. All we gotta do is respect that.”