Damage widespread following brief, violent storm in southern Ontario
1 hour, 57 minutes ago
By The Canadian Press
DURHAM, Ont. - Dazed residents have started surveying the damage in several Ontario communities which bore the brunt of a furious storm that spawned as many as four suspected tornados on Thursday.
The violent storm destroyed numerous homes, ripped up trees, flipped cars and left thousands of people without power.
One of the worst-hit areas was Durham, south of Owen Sound, where police confirmed one storm-related death. But authorities have not yet confirmed reports the victim is a teenaged boy.
In one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods in Vaughan, north of Toronto, dazed residents gathered early Friday to survey the damage, trade stories, and clean up what they could.
Several streets of a neighbourhood were closed by police, but those allowed back in said they had never seen anything like this in Canada.
Carm Spinelli was in her living room when the storm hit and has been staying with relatives since because she hasn't been allowed back in her house.
"I heard the noise that something was happening, but I didn't realize exactly the extent of what," said Spinelli, who had been sitting right at the spot where the storm hit but moved just before her roof caved in.
"It was a big roar. I never heard anything like that in my life. When I actually came outside and saw all of that I actually went into shock. There's brick that was moved."
Pieces of trees, fences and brick were strewn across streets. Some houses had gaping holes in their front yards and exposed roof beams, while others were untouched by the storm.
Lamposts were torn off one driveway, while another was covered with downed trees which had flattened cars, smashed lights and windows.
Spinelli, like other residents, said her next step is to talk to her insurance company about repairing the damage.
"I'm hoping that, if they can fix it, we don't have another one (storm)," she said.
"I am scared now, of course. You don't expect it, you never see this in Toronto, here. We've had bad rain but not like this. It's not a good feeling."
Ida Filgiano's house escaped the storm, but she said she was worried about her neighbours and sadden by the aftermath of what she called "a disaster."
"I've never seen anything like this. We see it on TV, but to see it firsthand, it's sad that a lot of people had to leave their homes. Friends of ours are homeless now," she said.
"This is reality I guess. We never thought it would happen here."
Even after the storm, she and her husband avoided their upstairs bedroom, sleeping in the basement instead in case a second storm followed.
Fiorina and Dominic Caravaggio's house had broken windows and doors, as well as debris strewn in the backyard.
Fiorina was cleaning up after dinner when her granddaughter alerted her to the storm.
"I couldn't sleep last night, I never slept," she said.
An evacuation centre in the neighbourhood was quiet, as many people in the tight-knit community opted to stay with family or friends.
Environment Canada is dispatching crews to check on suspected tornados in Durham, Vaughan, Newmarket and Collingwood.
Meteorologist Geoff Coulson said early Friday there was little doubt a tornado struck both the Durham and Vaughan areas.
"Some of the footage actually showing contact with the ground - the vortex of the winds picking dust and debris up," Coulson said.
"We will be heading up there to talk to eyewitnesses and look at the damage ourselves."
Coulson also said that while central and southwestern Ontario bore the brunt of the storm's fury, areas to the north were also affected.
"We also had reports of significant damage in the Lake Nippissing area, Powassan, North Bay and that's another possible site we'll be looking at."
"In looking at the damage (and) the aerial footage of the damage to Woodbridge and the Maple area, I think a lot of people were very fortunate we weren't having more significant injuries," Coulson said.
Both Durham and Vaughan declared states of emergency because of the widespread damage in those communities.
Durham deputy mayor Dan Sullivan said the state of emergency mobilizes outside help.
"At this point, we're saying we feel our resources through mutual aid and our neighbours that we're able to deal with it," he said.
"We still have a way to go here and there may be some need left."
In the meantime, said Sullivan, the public is being asked to steer clear of damaged areas to allow the cleanup to proceed.
"We have people who know what to do out there - just give us room to do it."
Hydro One crews have spent the night re-attaching downed power lines, which left some 69,000 homes and businesses in the dark at one point.
By Friday morning, power had been restored in many areas serviced by the utility, but Bracebridge, north of Toronto, still had about 2,200 customers blacked out.
Toronto Hydro reported multiple outages in the city, but by morning, said it had made "significant progress" is restoring electricity to its customers.
Veridian Connections Inc. said about 25,000 of its customers were without power in Bowmanville, Newcastle, parts of Ajax and Pickering, and other communities.
Copyright © 2009 Canadian Press
1 hour, 57 minutes ago
By The Canadian Press
DURHAM, Ont. - Dazed residents have started surveying the damage in several Ontario communities which bore the brunt of a furious storm that spawned as many as four suspected tornados on Thursday.
The violent storm destroyed numerous homes, ripped up trees, flipped cars and left thousands of people without power.
One of the worst-hit areas was Durham, south of Owen Sound, where police confirmed one storm-related death. But authorities have not yet confirmed reports the victim is a teenaged boy.
In one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods in Vaughan, north of Toronto, dazed residents gathered early Friday to survey the damage, trade stories, and clean up what they could.
Several streets of a neighbourhood were closed by police, but those allowed back in said they had never seen anything like this in Canada.
Carm Spinelli was in her living room when the storm hit and has been staying with relatives since because she hasn't been allowed back in her house.
"I heard the noise that something was happening, but I didn't realize exactly the extent of what," said Spinelli, who had been sitting right at the spot where the storm hit but moved just before her roof caved in.
"It was a big roar. I never heard anything like that in my life. When I actually came outside and saw all of that I actually went into shock. There's brick that was moved."
Pieces of trees, fences and brick were strewn across streets. Some houses had gaping holes in their front yards and exposed roof beams, while others were untouched by the storm.
Lamposts were torn off one driveway, while another was covered with downed trees which had flattened cars, smashed lights and windows.
Spinelli, like other residents, said her next step is to talk to her insurance company about repairing the damage.
"I'm hoping that, if they can fix it, we don't have another one (storm)," she said.
"I am scared now, of course. You don't expect it, you never see this in Toronto, here. We've had bad rain but not like this. It's not a good feeling."
Ida Filgiano's house escaped the storm, but she said she was worried about her neighbours and sadden by the aftermath of what she called "a disaster."
"I've never seen anything like this. We see it on TV, but to see it firsthand, it's sad that a lot of people had to leave their homes. Friends of ours are homeless now," she said.
"This is reality I guess. We never thought it would happen here."
Even after the storm, she and her husband avoided their upstairs bedroom, sleeping in the basement instead in case a second storm followed.
Fiorina and Dominic Caravaggio's house had broken windows and doors, as well as debris strewn in the backyard.
Fiorina was cleaning up after dinner when her granddaughter alerted her to the storm.
"I couldn't sleep last night, I never slept," she said.
An evacuation centre in the neighbourhood was quiet, as many people in the tight-knit community opted to stay with family or friends.
Environment Canada is dispatching crews to check on suspected tornados in Durham, Vaughan, Newmarket and Collingwood.
Meteorologist Geoff Coulson said early Friday there was little doubt a tornado struck both the Durham and Vaughan areas.
"Some of the footage actually showing contact with the ground - the vortex of the winds picking dust and debris up," Coulson said.
"We will be heading up there to talk to eyewitnesses and look at the damage ourselves."
Coulson also said that while central and southwestern Ontario bore the brunt of the storm's fury, areas to the north were also affected.
"We also had reports of significant damage in the Lake Nippissing area, Powassan, North Bay and that's another possible site we'll be looking at."
"In looking at the damage (and) the aerial footage of the damage to Woodbridge and the Maple area, I think a lot of people were very fortunate we weren't having more significant injuries," Coulson said.
Both Durham and Vaughan declared states of emergency because of the widespread damage in those communities.
Durham deputy mayor Dan Sullivan said the state of emergency mobilizes outside help.
"At this point, we're saying we feel our resources through mutual aid and our neighbours that we're able to deal with it," he said.
"We still have a way to go here and there may be some need left."
In the meantime, said Sullivan, the public is being asked to steer clear of damaged areas to allow the cleanup to proceed.
"We have people who know what to do out there - just give us room to do it."
Hydro One crews have spent the night re-attaching downed power lines, which left some 69,000 homes and businesses in the dark at one point.
By Friday morning, power had been restored in many areas serviced by the utility, but Bracebridge, north of Toronto, still had about 2,200 customers blacked out.
Toronto Hydro reported multiple outages in the city, but by morning, said it had made "significant progress" is restoring electricity to its customers.
Veridian Connections Inc. said about 25,000 of its customers were without power in Bowmanville, Newcastle, parts of Ajax and Pickering, and other communities.
Copyright © 2009 Canadian Press
