By BIANCA SYMONETTE,Guardian Staff Reporter,bianca@nasguard.com

There is nothing new about tornadic activity in The Bahamas, but meteorologists say the powerful spiraling storms often go unreported when they do not cause damage. Over the last few years tornadoes have been quite common especially in Grand Bahama.

During a tornado in 2006, some 21 people in West End were hurt; a female was severely injured.

In June last year, three Haitian families were displaced after a mini-tornado ripped through their homes in Lewis Yard, near Eight Mile Rock.

In Andros, during April 2006, four homes were destroyed by a tornado, and more than 10 homes and one business in North Andros were damaged after a twister touched down there. Four families had to be sheltered by the Methodist Church in Staniard Creek during that time.

According to records at the Department of Meteorology, there were several tornados that touched down in the country over the last 20 years.

Chief Meteorologist at the Freeport Weather Office, Donna Duncombe, said over the last few years a number of tornadoes have been reported, adding that such storms were not unusual as they can form anytime during heavy thunderstorms.

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air which is in contact with both a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, a cumulus cloud base and the surface of the earth. Tornadoes come in many sizes but are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, whose narrow end touches the earth and is often encircled by a cloud of debris.

The powerful winds during a tornado can toss heavy objects into the air, such as vehicles, boats and small houses.

Duncombe explained that tornadoes form in severe thunderstorms, which was what happened in Grand Bahama on Wednesday.

"We can get tornado activity during hurricanes, post hurricane activity or tropical weather systems," Duncombe explained. "When two air masses meet, warm air meeting cold air, it forms a frontal boundary and once there is sufficient instability in that area you can get development of a severe thunderstorm. And once there is a thunderstorm, it can be accompanied by lighting, torrential rain and tornado activity."

Duncombe said tornadoes can cause substantial damage because as they travels, they pick up more debris from the land.

"It is a severe wind storm, the damage can range from very light stuff like removing tiles and shingles, breaking trees, and it can move up to complete and utter [destruction] wiping out a huge area," Duncombe explained.

Tornadoes can occur anywhere on land during a severe thunderstorm.

Grand Bahama resident Lashonda Hepburn, who was severely injured during the West End tornado in 2006, said she remembered very little about what actually transpired. However, she said she was told that she was hit over the head by flying debris.

Hepburn said she remembered being out with her husband at a function at West End and heard him saying that some "serious weather" approaching. Five days later, she woke up in Jackson Memorial Hospital in the trauma section unit suffering from various injuries.

"I was in a coma for five days and I don't know what happened that day at all. I lost my memory and it took me months before I could fully recover. I lost my ability to walk and my speech was slurred," Hepburn said.

After spending eight weeks in hospital, Hepburn was released and had to undergo a series of physical therapy sessions to re-learn basic motor skills.

"The doctors told me I experienced something similar to a stroke because I showed all the symptoms of a stroke but it was not a stroke," she said. "The doctors thought it would take me much longer to recover fully but I did it in a matter of months. I still don't remember a lot of things but I am able to talk and walk with ease."

Initially doctors said Hepburn would have recovered in five years, however, she was able to recover in just a year. Due to the injuries received, Hepburn said she still had to get regular checkups to ensure that everything is going well.

On Wednesday, Freeport experienced a powerful tornado, which ripped through its industrial area damaging buildings and overturning vehicles at the harbor. The tornado caused extensive damage to terminals, warehouses, power lines, and fencing, but no one was injured during.