As experts survey the extent of the damage caused by Wednesday’s tornadoes, an early report from the National Weather Service (NWS) gives a hint to how strong they were.

The agency pointed out that multiple strong tornadoes happened within the rainbands linked to Hurricane Milton, which at the time was just a few hours away from sweeping through the region.

On Thursday afternoon, it released some of the findings related to the twister that ripped through Palm Beach County. The tornado was rated as an EF-3 with estimated peak wind speeds of 140 mph. NWS personnel based the rating on what happened in a single neighborhood that was among the hardest hit.

The NWS noted the amount of structural damage in the Avenir community, highlighting that some of that damage occurred on homes it described as brand new and well-built. The tornado knocked out sections of concrete block walls and tore off roofs, the experts found.

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The NWS figures did not indicate how wide the tornado was nor how long it was on the ground. The agency simply said in its early report that the track was relatively long.

While they were able to release these early findings, it is expected to take several days.

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