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U.S. NEWS Thursday 20 december 2018

Rare Washington state tornado strongest since 1986

By LISA BAUMANN Mueller said. "The entire up-
Associated Press stairs is gone. There's 2x4
SEATTLE (AP) — An ex- and 4x4s sticking out of the
tremely rare tornado that walls. Glass shattered ev-
touched down west of Se- erywhere. The downstairs
attle was the strongest to is just full of water and bro-
hit Washington state since ken glass...I think (the tor-
1986, the National Weather nado) landed on top of the
Service said Wednesday. house."
A Weather Service storm Washington state averages
team surveyed the dam- 2.5 tornadoes a year, but
age just south of Port Or- December tornadoes aver-
chard, Washington, and age a minute fraction, the
rated the twister an Ef2 on Weather Service said. Most
the Enhanced Fujita scale tornadoes in Washington
with top wind speeds of up are rated EF-0s that cause
to 130 mph (210 kph). The minor damage, Weather
scale rates an Ef2 as "signifi- Service hydrologist Brent
cant." Bower said.
In five minutes Tuesday af- The Kitsap County Sheriff's
ternoon, the twister's 1.4 office called the damage
mile-path (2.3 kilometers) "catastrophic." Dozens of
tore roofs off homes, shat- structures were affect-
tered windows and toppled ed. Fire officials were try-
large fir trees, but no injuries ing to complete an initial Melinda St. John, center, helps her nieces, Hannah Mueller, 20, left, and Jasmin Mueller, 16, right,
have been reported. damage assessment by recover family photos from the living room of a house owned by St. John's sister Beth Mueller,
John Mueller's home was Wednesday night. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, in Port Orchard, Wash., the day after a tornado took the roof off the
among those most severely Deputy Scott Wilson said house and caused other damage Tuesday.
damaged. the twister caused "a lot of
He told KOMO-TV that he chaos." who may have been in- office said Wednesday. Some roads remained
was at work at a shipyard "It's traumatic, especially jured or stranded but found Power had been restored closed.
when he recognized his as we approach the Christ- none. by Wednesday to much Port Orchard is about 15
home in a video of the tor- mas season," Wilson said. Other emergency crews of the affected area with miles (24 kilometers) west of
nado on social media. Kitsap County Search and still inspecting homes were the exception of the most Seattle, across Puget Sound
"If I could describe the Rescue workers with trained finding gas leaks in dam- severely damaged homes, on the Kitsap Peninsula.q
house, it would be roofless," dogs checked for people aged structures, the sheriff's the sheriff's office said.

New York City police using firearms at lowest rate on record

NEW YORK (AP) — The New cent decrease from previ- Police Commissioner comes to using force in the ties Union, said his organi-
York Police Department ous year. But officers fatally James O'Neill said the sta- performance of their du- zation is "very concerned"
said Wednesday that offi- shot 10 suspects last year, tistics reflect improvements ties," O'Neill said in a state- with the department's ris-
cers are using Tasers more an increase from nine in in the department's use-of- ment. ing use of Tasers. He noted
frequently, while firing on 2016. force policies, which were O'Neill also noted that that nearly a third of 728
suspects fell to the lowest Police officers' use of Tas- reformed in 2016 to require the New York City Civilian Taser incidents in 2017 in-
level since the department ers, meanwhile, jumped more detailed reporting of Complaint Review Board volved officers seeking to
began tracking the use of about 45 percent last incidents involving police last year recorded the control an emotionally dis-
force. year to 728 incidents. The force. fewest police-force com- turbed person.
The department's 2017 use- department attributed "NYPD cops are among plaints in more than a de- "It runs the risk of seriously
of-force report showed that increase to a wider the most restrained law cade. damaging people already
that officers opened fire deployment of stun guns enforcement officers in Chris Dunn, legal director in trauma," Dunn said.q
52 times last year, a 28 per- among the ranks. the United States when it of the New York Civil Liber-