NEBRASKA – A tornado near a mall in central California swept up cars, uprooted trees and sent several people to the hospital. In San Francisco, authorities issued the first-ever tornado warning. Elsewhere, inclement weather plagued areas of the US, with dangerous conditions including heavy snow in upstate New York, a major ice storm in Midwest states and severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe.

The ice storm beginning Friday evening created treacherous driving conditions across Iowa and eastern Nebraska Friday and into Saturday and prompted temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks slid off the road. In upstate New York, more than 33 inches (84 centimetres) was reported near Orchard Park, which is often a landing point for lake-effect snow.

On Saturday, a tornado touched down near a shopping mall in Scotts Valley, California, about 70 miles (110 kilometres) south of San Francisco, around 1:40 p.m. The tornado overturned cars and toppled trees and utility poles, the National Weather Service said. The Scotts Valley Police Department said several people were injured and taken to hospitals.

Some trees toppled onto cars and streets and damaged roofs in San Francisco. The damage was being assessed to determine if the city was indeed hit by a tornado, which had not occurred since 2005, according to the weather service. (Jamaica-Gleaner)

Photo: Motorists make their way along Interstate 380 in North Liberty, Iowa. (AP)

DAMASCUS  –  The US has made “direct contact” with the HTS rebels, who now control Syria after toppling the Assad regime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. It is the first acknowledgement of direct US interaction with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the US currently still designates as a terrorist organisation. Blinken told reporters the US has been in contact in particular over the fate of the missing American journalist, Austin Tice. Blinken was speaking in Jordan after talks with representatives from several Arab countries, Turkey, and Europe to discuss the future of Syria.

Officials agreed to support a peaceful transition process in the country, with Jordan’s foreign minister saying that regional powers did not want to see it “descend into chaos”. A joint communique called for an inclusive Syrian government that respects the rights of minorities and does not offer a base for “terrorist groups”. The talk both inside and outside Syria after the tumultuous events of recent weeks has been of the vital importance of setting up new governance that represents all Syrians. HTS was not present at the meeting in Jordan. There, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein expressed concern over Syria’s future shared across the Middle East and beyond.

He said regional players did not want to see another Libya – referring to the chaos that ensued after Colonel Gaddafi’s removal from power. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said existing Syrian institutions must be preserved and reformed. “Never allow terrorism to take advantage of the transition period. And we have to coordinate our efforts and learn from the mistakes of the past,” Fidan said according to Reuters news agency.

Meanwhile, Israel has launched dozens more air strikes against Syria, according to a war monitor, despite regional condemnation.

Israel has previously said it was taking action to “destroy strategic capabilities” that threaten it. The UN Secretary General has said he is “particularly concerned” about the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria. HTS, Syria’s most powerful rebel group, was set up under a different name, Jabhat al-Nusra, in 2011 as a direct al-Qaeda affiliate. It was considered to be one of the most effective and deadly groups opposing President Assad. It was proscribed as a terrorist group by the UN, the US, Turkey, and other countries – and currently remains so. Its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously used the name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, cut ties with al-Qaeda in 2016. He has recently pledged tolerance for different religious groups and communities. But the group’s violent jihadist past has left some doubting whether it will live up to such promises. (BBC)

Photo: United States of America Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Reuters)

CALIFORNIA   –  At least four people were injured after a tornado struck northern California last Saturday afternoon, according to local authorities. The twister flipped over several cars and brought down power lines in Scotts Valley, located around 55 miles (89km) south of San Francisco, police said. The National Weather Service (NWS) said the tornado was categorised as an EF1, one of the weakest classifications, and that it lasted around five minutes.

Earlier last Saturday, residents of San Francisco had been issued a tornado warning for the first time ever as thunderstorms swept through the region. In Scotts Valley, the tornado touched down at 13:39 local time (21:39 GMT) last Saturday, police said. The local fire service said at least four people had been injured and at least two of them had been taken to hospital, BBC’s US partner CBS News reported. Police closed a road overnight to allow for repair work to be done and debris cleared. Wind speeds were estimated to have peaked at around 90mph (145km/h), the NWS said.

The weather agency also said the twister had been around 30 yards (27m) wide and travelled for a quarter of a mile (400m) before subsiding. Earlier last Saturday, a tornado warning was issued to residents of San Francisco just before 06:00 local time (14:00 GMT). The warning was for parts of downtown San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. More than one million residents were woken in San Francisco and its suburbs to alerts on their mobile phones, warning them to “take shelter now”. Winds of up to 60mph (96km/h) ripped through the area, the NWS said. But a few minutes later, NWS Bay Area said the warning was over and the storm had moved out of the city’s downtown.

The city last saw a tornado in 2005, though that struck without any clear radar signature, so no warning was issued in that case, NWS meteorologist Roger Glass told AP news agency.

Nearby San Mateo County was last issued a tornado warning in 2011. The warning came after a powerful storm passed through overnight – trees were toppled and there were major power cuts.

As of Sunday, more than 50,000 customers were still without power along the northern and central California coast, according to the PowerOutage website. NWS Bay Area warned that residents should steer clear of the seaside over the weekend, with a coastal flood advisory in place until Monday. San Francisco’s tornado alert came just a week after the city saw its first ever tsunami warning. The brief advisory was issued for northern California and southern Oregon following a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit off the northern coast of the state. It was later rescinded, and no injuries were reported. (BBC)

Photo: One of the cars in Scotts Valley flipped over by the tornado. (Scotts Valley Police Department)