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Source: The Coastal Leader The community and council in the tiny town of Kingston have begun counting the cost of a tornado which unexpectedly ripped through homes and businesses and tossed bricks, tiles and fences through the air on Saturday. Rooves were lost on at least 25 properties, including two businesses and a two-story house which SES volunteers spent four hours trying to secure with tarpaulin that night. "Today we'll spend revisiting each property to sure the tarps are properly secured, that everything is safe," said the SES's Craig Brassington. "It was amazing. Only about four streets were affected, between the lighthouse and the water tower." Not so, according to David Rasheed, who has property 32 kilometres north-east of Kingston. "A 10 metre by forty metre shed was completely blown to pieces – iron was strewn all across the place, wrapped around trees and up the hill. Trees were uprooted and torn in half and limbs were everywhere," he said. A community meeting will be held at the school at 1pm. Police, council, relief agencies and SES will attend. Kingston deputy mayor Chris England visited the affected area. "People a few streets away didn't even know it had happened. It was very narrow where it hit. We've had a good response from emergency services," he said. Councillor England said hard rubbish debris could be left behind the council depot. Kelly Mules didn't know something big was about to happen at lunch time on Saturday but her dog certainly did. It was around 12.30pm when the pooch started whining at the back door and, on hearing the rain, Ms Mules went to investigate. "So I was standing at my back door and I was like, what the hell," Ms Mules recalled to Fairfax Regional Media. "There were roof tiles up in the air, big sheets of iron, debris, all flying through the air. It looked like I was watching tv. "I've never seen anything so eerie and scary in all my life ... I was just worried about that debris, there was so much and it was going so fast, it would've killed someone had it hit them." Homes, businesses and infrastructure in the path of the 'Kingston tornado' as it is being called by locals, were severely damaged and left in shambles. The State Emergency Service sent support crews to Kingston, 300 kilometres south-east of Adelaide, from as far away as southern Adelaide and Murray Bridge More than a dozen roofs were lost, powerlines down and electricity poles bent. It is impossible to know exactly how fast the wind was spinning because Kingston does not have a local weather station. However, Weatherzone meteorologist Kim Westcott said it was likely gusting up to nearly 90kmh. "To cause structural damage as has happened, sustained wind speed of between 76 to 87 kilometres per hour would be necessary," she said. A cold front with a jet stream wind high above were the culprits, according to Ms Westcott. "This type of wind event is usually quite narrow, while a tropical cyclone can be kilometres wide," she said. Kelly Mules described the damaged as narrow. "It was so quick. If you were in its direct path, you were in trouble. You can have one house is damaged while next door is fine," she said. "The damage – it's pretty drastic." Craig Brassington from the SES said reports of damage were received shortly after 12.30pm. "Some are calling it a mini tornado but the weather bureau is calling it a wind shear," Mr Brassington said. To share this article on Facebook, click the 'like' icon below.

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