Seven-year-old Keoki Kea looked out the window of his Pearlridge townhouse yesterday and saw the scariest sight of his young life.

"Shingles were flying around in a circle, like a tornado, and it wasn't that small. It was pretty big," the Kamehameha Schools second-grader said of the scene outside his family's Ridgeway BII home in the 98-900 block of Kaonohi Street. "The wind was so strong. A tree fell down. It got ripped out of the concrete. It fell on my uncle's truck."

What Keoki saw was a wind funnel that knocked down several trees about 4 p.m. yesterday, closing Kaonohi Street near Iho Place for several hours.

The funnel was part of a short but fierce thunderstorm that whipped O'ahu from about 2 to 4 p.m. yesterday, briefly knocking out electrical power to about 3,000 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers in East Honolulu and flooding at least one home in He'eia.

National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Burke said daytime atmospheric heating combined with an upper-level trough and heavy moisture caused the storm.

"The upper-level trough will keep the atmosphere unstable at least for a day or two," said Burke, who noted that the storm dropped about 1 to 1 1/3 inches of rain in less than two hours on the island.

No injuries were reported.

"I was kind of scared at first," Keoki said of the funnel, which caused the most weather-related damage yesterday. The boy observed that branches and shingles were swirling around, and that some debris hit the lanai railing of his home, though not the window. "The doors were shaking," Keoki said.

Keoki's parents, George and Arlene Kea, and his uncle, Clint Shirai, whose pickup truck was damaged by the fallen tree, also saw the funnel.

"There was rubbish and leaves, maybe 50 feet high," George Kea said. "The bed of Clint's truck is gone. The tree that fell on it was about 20 feet tall. There are three trees on the ground."

The Honolulu Fire Department had one report of lightning striking a transformer at 3884 Sierra Drive about 3:30 p.m.

HECO spokeswoman Sharon Higa did not disclose a location but said a possible lightning strike may have contributed to the loss of power that affected parts of Sierra Drive, Wilhelmina Rise and Maunalani Circle in Kaimuki; East Hind Drive and Halema'uma'u Street in 'Aina Haina; parts of Kahala; and sections of Monsarrat and Le'ahi avenues near Diamond Head.

The lights went out at about 3:45 p.m., delaying the start of Diamond Head Theatre's matinee performance of "Aladdin Jr."

Deena Dray, Diamond Head Theatre executive director, said a decision was made to "wait it out" and that the packed audience sang Christmas carols to pass the time. Following a rendition of "Frosty the Snowman" at about 4:30 p.m., the lights came on and so did the show.

Firefighters from the Kane'ohe ladder company assisted a resident in the 100 block of He'eia Street whose house was flooded by water overflowing from the storm drain about 2:30 p.m. The firefighters pumped water from the house.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.