The National Weather Service confirmed during a press conference that the tornado touched down in the 1200 block of South Vail Avenue at around 11:20 a.m.
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The EF-1 tornado remained on the ground for two to three minutes and had a peak wind speed of 110 mph, the weather service said.
"The wind of all a sudden started going fast and we started seeing the roof going all over," said a witness.
Montebello fire officials said only one minor injury has been reported as a result of the tornado activity. During the chaotic morning, buildings were quickly evacuated in the area and an urban search-and-rescue team was dispatched to look for anyone potentially trapped in the wreckage.
WATCH: Dallas Raines explains how Montebello tornado formed, moved across SoCal
Dallas Raines explains how Montebello tornado formed, moved across SoCal
Inspectors checked 17 buildings in the area that were damaged, and 11 of them have been red-tagged, according to the fire department.
Mike Turner, who works in the area, captured the powerful winds as they ripped through a business, ripping off a portion of the roof.
"This is crazy, I mean we're used to earthquakes, but not tornados," he said.
He described the tornado as something he's never seen before.
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"It got real loud," said Turner. "Like I've never heard before, and for about 30 seconds to a minute ... and then we kind of all were in the office and then after it died down, we went outside, and there was debris everywhere, it was like dust bowl in the factory. We looked up and we saw that most of our sky lights had popped out ... a big 10 by 20 hole in the roof in the front, and then when we got to the back of the building, basically the whole back ... 5,000 square feet of roof was gone."
Several buildings were displaying pieces of their roofs torn off or collapsed. Some of them were left with gaping holes in the roofs even as rain continued to fall sporadically in the area. Plus, large metal chunks from the building were tossed around onto the parking lot, smashing multiple vehicles.
"I cannot even explain what happened because if you see tornadoes on TV or in movies, you know it can happen to you, right?" said Nicky Orellana.
Meanwhile, gas and electric companies were called to the scene because of damage to utility lines.
Late Wednesday night, 87 customers Southern California Edison customers were without power. SCE crews were spotted on the scene assessing the damage well into Wednesday evening, and officials said they expected power to be restored by around 7 a.m. Thursday.
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The majority of the damage appeared to be centered around the building of the Royal Paper Box Company.
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"I thought it was a heavy rain or earthquake, but the floor wasn't shaking," said Anthony Jain, who was working nearby. "There was a lot of noise. After the thing ended in a few minutes, we came out - a building seemed to be damaged."
Thunderstorms were also reported in the area. Video taken by a witness shows debris from one building spinning through the air.
On Tuesday, a tornado struck a mobile home park in Carpinteria, damaging more than two dozen homes. No serious injuries were reported.
WATCH: Tornado touches down in Carpinteria, damages mobile home park
Tornado touches down in Carpinteria, damages mobile home park
The NWS investigated the incidents in Carpinteria as well to confirm if the weather phenomena observed were in fact tornadoes.