Tornado damages 250 homes in Kitsap County, 1,400 lose power

Estimates from the Kitsap County Emergency Management say that 250 homes in Kitsap County were damaged in a tornado that touched down Tuesday afternoon.

RELATED: Tornadoes in Washington more common than you think

“The devastation out there is nothing like I’ve ever seen,” Port Orchard Mayor Robert Putaansu in a Wednesday press conference.

Tornadoes are measured on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, ranging from EF-0 all the way up to EF-5. According to the National Weather Service, Tuesday’s Port Orchard tornado was measured as an EF-2, with estimated peak winds between 120 and 130 mph.

The tornado was active between 1:50 p.m. and 1:55 p.m., with a width of 250 to 300 yards, and a path 1.40 miles long. This was the strongest tornado to his Washington state since 1986.

Fire and emergency personnel made two sweeps of the affected area Tuesday evening. Despite a handful of minor transports for scrapes and bruises, there were no reports of serious injuries.

The American Red Cross stood up relief efforts at St. Gabriel’s Church, where they served seven clients overnight in need of shelter.

Directly following the tornado, approximately 1,400 were left without power — into Wednesday, that number has steadily decreased as homes and buildings have been swept and deemed safe for power and gas to be switched back on.

Damage is still being assessed over the Port Orchard area and beyond, while the beginnings of what the local fire department calls a “recovery phase” begin to take shape.

The National Weather Service has not yet released its own assessment of the tornado’s strength and area of affect, but began the process of gathering information on-site early Tuesday morning.

What we do know is that there was extensive damage inflicted by falling trees, a construction trailer was flipped and rolled 15 feet, some roofs were completely removed, and litter and debris were lofted at least 6,000 feet into the atmosphere.

Complete Loss of roof #portorchardtornado #wawx pic.twitter.com/5KlQx2BLQt

— Logan Johnson (@LJohnsonWX) December 19, 2018

One witness, Jeff Powell, was inside a Walmart at the time the tornado hit. Afterwards, he walked outside to survey the damage.

“The destruction on a scale from one to 10, I’d say is a 35 compared to our normal windstorms,” he told KIRO Radio. “It basically looked like a bunch of toothpicks had been thrown in a line — it knocked trees over into houses, [and] into sheds and vehicles.”

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest