VANCOUVER, Wash. - A rare tornado touched down Thursday in a residential area of Vancouver, downing power lines, uprooting trees, tossing shopping carts into cars and causing moments of fear for residents.

There were no immediate reports of injuries as the tornado cut through four miles from Vancouver Lake at the west edge of the town through the Hazel Dell area.

"It looks like we came through this pretty good," said Jim Flaherty, spokesman for the Vancouver Fire Department.

Authorities confirmed that the tornado hit at about 12:20 p.m. and was followed by several funnel clouds, which are twisters that remain above ground.

Jerome Nye was in his car and saw the funnel pass directly over him. He said it was about 25 to 30 feet wide as it came across a field, then passed over traffic.

"I thought 'Wizard of Oz,' here we come," he said.

A severe thunderstorm warning was later issued for Hood River, Skamania and Multnomah Counties. Residents from Clark County and eastern Multnomah County reported seeing funnel clouds in the area.

KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky says it was likely an F-0 or F-1 tornado, the lowest level possible on the scale with wind speeds of 75-100 miles an hour. This level of tornado typically knocks down trees and power lines, but isn't powerful enough to lift automobiles or mobile homes.

Several witnesses reported seeing shopping carts flying, roofs being ripped off from homes and power lines falling. One semi-truck in Hazel Dell was toppled by the winds and a woman said strong winds almost lifted her car.

Connie Storey said it was a miracle she wasn't hurt.

"It literally blew me across the street," she said. "I was just praying that nothing would hit me."

Leah Edwards, of Clark County Fire, estimated the weather event caused about four miles worth of damage. At one point, nearly 1,000 people were without power. By about 4 p.m., power had been restored to all but about 500 residents, said Mike Shutt, of Clark County PUD.

"We're fortunate it happened in the daytime hours, when everyone was still at work," he said. "We encourage people, if they see a line down, to immediately call a utility or call 911."

KING Meteorologist Chris Warren

"These are images grabbed from the KING5 First Alert Live Doppler while the storm was passing over the Columbia River and into the Vancouver area earlier this afternoon (around 12:11 p.m.)," says KING 5 Meteorologist Chris Warren. "The colors indicate areas of precipitation. The areas in yellow, orange and red indicate areas of heavy rain and/or hail. The blue and green coloers indicate areas of relatively lighter precipitation. "

One Vancouver resident said he saw funnel clouds uproot trees and tear down metal billboards as he drove down the street. Homeowner Paul Robinson said he heard what sounded like road construction as the tornado touched down near his home.

"It sounded like a jet aircraft right outside my house," said Robinson, whose home was undamaged.

Bill Kalenius, president of Vancouver Lake Crew, said the storm destroyed two portable office buildings and caused major damage to the club's vessels. The rowing shells are worth thousands of dollars each, he said.

The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for Clark and Skamania Counties at about 12:20 p.m. and then canceled them less than an hour later. NWS meteorologists said they had detected the tornado but couldn't clearly estimate its wind speed.

"We saw the tornado on the radar... and issued a tornado warning," said Steve Todd, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Portland. "About the time we were issuing it, we got a report over there from the emergency management folks that they had gotten a touchdown and some damage."

American Medical Response, Clark County

AMR's Clark County Operations is located at 409 NE 76th Street in Vancouver. While no damage to ambulances occurred, large trees were downed and damaged vehicles of personnel.

Todd said the region of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon sees only one or two tornadoes a year, most often in sparsely populated areas.

"We do see more of actually what we call funnel clouds," he said. "Those are the same type of phenomenon only they don't touch down. As soon as they touch down a funnel cloud changes from a funnel cloud to a tornado."

The last time a tornado hit the Vancouver area was back in April 5th, 1972. That tornado was more severe, a level F-2. It flattened buildings, threw boats onto land, and sent massive amounts of debris flying.