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Crews assess damage from Washington state tornado

People walk through debris at Salmonberry Dry Storage, on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, in Port Orchard, Wash., where a tornado touched down Tuesday. A National Weather Service storm damage survey team was working elsewhere in the neighborhood to assess the damage. (Ted S. Warren / AP)
People walk through debris at Salmonberry Dry Storage, on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, in Port Orchard, Wash., where a tornado touched down Tuesday. A National Weather Service storm damage survey team was working elsewhere in the neighborhood to assess the damage. (Ted S. Warren / AP)
By Lisa Baumann Associated Press

SEATTLE – A National Weather Service storm team is surveying the damage in a town west of Seattle where an extremely rare, strong tornado blew through a neighborhood.

The twister touched down Tuesday afternoon in Port Orchard, Washington. It tore roofs off homes, shattered windows and toppled trees, but no injuries have been reported.

John Mueller’s home was among those most severely damaged.

He told KOMO-TV that he was at work at a shipyard when he recognized his home in a video of the tornado on social media.

“If I could describe the house, it would be roofless,” Mueller said. “The entire upstairs is gone. There’s 2x4 and 4x4s sticking out of the walls. Glass shattered everywhere. The downstairs is just full of water and broken glass … I think (the tornado) landed on top of the house.”

The National Weather Service crew arrived at the site Wednesday morning and said on Twitter at that the damage survey had been wrapped up and that they expected to release the tornado’s intensity rating shortly.

Washington state averages 2.5 tornadoes a year, but December tornadoes average just 0.1 a year, the Weather Service said.

Most tornadoes in Washington are rated EF-0s that cause minor damage, weather service hydrologist Brent Bower said.

The Kitsap County Sheriff’s office called the damage from Wednesday’s twister “catastrophic.”

Dozens of structures were affected. Fire officials were trying to complete an initial damage assessment by Wednesday night.

Deputy Scott Wilson said Wednesday that the twister caused “a lot of chaos.”

“It’s traumatic, especially as we approach the Christmas season,” Wilson said.

Kitsap County Search and Rescue workers with trained dogs checked for people who may have been injured or stranded but found none.

Other emergency crews still inspecting homes were finding gas leaks in damaged structures, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

Power had been restored by Wednesday to much of the affected area with the exception of the most severely damaged homes, the sheriff’s office said. Some roads remained closed.

Port Orchard is about 15 miles west of Seattle, across Puget Sound on the Kitsap Peninsula.