(NECN: Amy Sinclair, Maine) - Severe weather ripped across Western Maine over the weekend, and the National Weather Service on Monday confirmed that a tornado did touch down.
"I've been here 10 years never seen anything like it. The windows felt like they'd shatter," Bob Barcelau said.
He is still trying to come to terms with the sudden violent storm that blew across Taylor Pond in Auburn, Maine Saturday evening, sending trees crashing onto rooftops.
Ten miles to the west in East Oxford, road crews have their work cut out for them, clearing dozens of downed trees and debris left by a storm that lasted minutes, but will be remembered for decades.
"The wind came up, the hale pelted windows -- I said we're going to get a storm," storm victim Walter Lang said. "About that time the air conditioner came out and chased me across the room."
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The wind on Saturday was so severe it blew Lang's travel trailer onto its side. His tool shed gone -- it landed some 50 feet away -- and the door blew upwards. Lang said the only explanation for this sort of damage is a tornado.
Meteorologist John Jensenius explained that microbursts send down trees in the direction a storm is moving, but a tornado's circular motion sends trees down from right to left, which is exactly what happened here.
"We're estimating wind speeds of 90 miles an hour which would classify this as an EF1 tornado," Jensenius said.
He estimated that this tornado was on the ground for at least two miles, leaving a 300-yard-wide wake of destruction. It was enough for Lang to lose a lot of lumber from his tree farm, but he knows he could have lost much more.
Lang said it is a reminder that when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning, it is time to pay attention and take cover -- fast.
