Residents in George Town, Malaysia were horrified as a ferocious waterspout descended on the city’s streets in a rampage that lasted roughly 15 minutes, damaging some 50 buildings in the process.

The waterspout ripped the roofs off several houses and felled multiple trees in the Tanjung Tokong suburb of the city after appearing just a short distance offshore mere minutes beforehand. Thankfully, none of the city’s roughly 200,000 residents were injured during the rare weather event on Monday.

Massive #waterspout off of Tanjung Tokong, Penang, Malaysia today!Typical of waterspouts, it rapidly weakens upon reaching land & runs out of fuel (warm ocean water). This spout was so large, it did end up damaging 50 structures before dissipating.pic.twitter.com/41RR1kbu4t — Mike Hamernik (@MikeHamernik) April 1, 2019

Allahu... kejadian di Penang, saper tahu pasal ni?? pic.twitter.com/RP00vuXExD — YanaSamsudin (@YanaSamsudin) April 1, 2019

“The sound of the wind was deafening and I saw part of the roof of my house being flown [sic: blown] away by the wind ... indeed it was very scary and took place for the first time in the 50 years I have been staying here,” Resident Nona Khalid, 75, told Channel News Asia.

The residents in Penang thought it's a tornado. No, it's not! It's a waterspout! This phenomenon occured today. Rather scary! pic.twitter.com/q9jI90sZCt — Lim Phaik Suat (@monkeyvirgo) April 1, 2019

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