Investigators from Environment Canada have confirmed that a small tornado touched down Wednesday in Combermere during a powerful storm that left a trail of destruction across eastern Ontario.

Meteorologist Geoff Coulson said an F-1 twister tore through the Opeongo Trail Resort in the community, 150 kilometres west of Ottawa. An F-1 tornado has winds of between 120 and 170 kilometres an hour.

Workers remove fallen trees from the roof of a cottage in Combermere, Ont. on Thursday.
(Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Environment Canada officials at the scene describe the damage as "total devastation," and say they're amazed that despite the number of crushed camping trailers and cars, no one was hurt.

Deanne Lemieux, who was in a cottage at the resort at the time, said it felt like the cottage was going to lift off the ground before several trees fell through the roof.

Combermere remains in a state of emergency and without power. Volunteers using chainsaws are cleaning up the damage, estimated to be in the millions of dollars.

Farther west in the Haliburton and Kawartha Lakes area, 23,000 people remain without power. Crews have been brought in from neighbouring areas to help cut trees and re-string power lines.

At least 28,000 homes in areas around Bancroft and Tweed are also without electricity.

The storm initially knocked out electricity to about 175,000 customers and Hydro One doesn't expect power to be fully restored until Sunday.

In Ottawa, more than 100 people have called the city to report water damage from the storm.

With files from the Canadian Press