Tornado Raises Roofs In Heredia
It was 3:10pm when a tornado formed in the area of Santa Cecilia de San Franciso, Heredia. The phenomenum last approximately five minutes and left a number of houses without roofs, windows, walls and strew objects, like zinc roof panels, like pieces of paper.

According to those affected by the tornado, they say that the afternoon got dark. The rain got heavier than usual for this time of year and then suddenly stopped followed by gust of strong wind which formed the cyclone.

William Muñoz, an eye witness, said "it was raining heavy, then got dark. I heard the roar and saw my neighbour's roof flying off into the air".

The total damage by yesterday's tornado will be assessed today by the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias de Heredia (CNE). Miguel Rivas, a member of the emergency committee, said by 4pm yesterday at least 23 homes were affected.

Fortunately there were no injuries were reported or any loss of life. The Cruz Roja (Red Cross) was immediately on the scene on the tornado and attended a number of people, mostly for frayed nerves. In total seven persons were in the hands of the Cruzrojistas who were able to calm down their patients.

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air which is in contact with both a cumulonimbus (or, in rare cases, cumulus) cloud base and the surface of the earth. Tornadoes can come in many shapes, but are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, with the narrow end touching the earth. Often, a cloud of debris encircles the lower portion of the funnel.

in Costa Rica, tornadoes are few and weak, don't last for very long, an average of 15 minutes and are stationary, according to the Instituto Meteriológico Nacional (IMN).

Of the 40 tornadoes on record from 1948 to 1998 for the Central Valley, the majority have been centred in San José, from Escazú to Guadalupe. In Alajuela, areas around Grecia and Naranjo have been affected

Tornadoes are classified from an F0 to an F5 depending on the strength of the winds, which can cause light damage for an F0 to severe damages during and F3 and complete devastation during an F5 that can reach wind speeds of up to 500 KMh.

The IMN has yet to report and classify yesterday's tornado.