Resident of an Orléans neighbourhood described seeing a funnel cloud and hearing what sounded like a train Sunday before a tornado ripped trees out of the ground and damaged homes and cars.
Several residents of the Chatelaine Village neighbourhood north of Place d’Orléans said they only received an emergency alert on their phone after the storm was over — and that the warning was about a possible tornado in Gatineau.
Environment Canada said late Sunday that preliminary information indicates the tornado was a Category EF-1 and may have been on the ground for more than 30 minutes.
Firefighters, police and city workers were on-hand soon after the storm Sunday helping clear debris tossed around the neighbourhood and to check on residents.
There were no reports of serious injuries.
Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesman Marc-Antoine Deschamps said the service had not received any calls to respond to significant injuries.
“It looks like we got extremely lucky,” Deschamps said.
The tornado was in Ottawa’s east end, north of Highway 174 and east of Jeanne D’Arc Boulevard, according to a city bulletin. Residents are asked to avoid damaged areas.
On Singleton Way one home had a hole punched through the roof and trees down across the front of the house. Next door, windows were broken and debris was scattered around. The street was lined with fallen trees. A trampoline was mangled around a fence.
In nearby Big Bird Park, numerous trees were uprooted.
David Redmond, whose Singleton Way house sustained structural damage to the roof, said he was in Vanier when his son called around 6 p.m. to say there had been a tornado and the house was damaged.
Redmond said he got on the highway to head home and could see “this giant tornado in the sky hovering over this area, and it lasted the whole drive here.”
Dana Miller said she was about to go for a walk when the sky got dark and “things started moving around in my room.” She looked outside and saw a funnel cloud and “it was heading this way.”
Others reported hearing loud sounds like a train before they headed to safety in their basements.
Rita Heather on nearby Burnt Ember Way said she heard a noise that her husband thought was a low-flying plane.
“All of a sudden we saw the debris flying and he hollered let’s get in the basement. It got really loud and then it started to get softer.”
The fence at Heather’s house was smashed and a blooming crabapple tree was upended.
“My heart dropped when I saw that tree.”
At a nearby house, three cars were damaged, trees were snapped and broken and debris was scattered around the yard.
The force of the wind blew debris inside the house underneath the front door, said Mary-Jean Achtell.
“Everything is damaged, but we are safe,” she said.
A steady stream of people wandered through the streets and parks to survey the damage, some cleaning up debris as they went.
Numerous fire trucks were on the scene in an area around Place d’Orleans inspecting the damage from the sudden storm. A Ottawa First spokesman said there were no reports of anyone being trapped, but some of the damages to houses was significant.
Marc Messier, an inspector with Ottawa Fire, said his son watched what looked like a funnel cloud rip down his street in Orléans. He was driving toward Orléans when he saw what appeared to be a tornado and filmed it, later posting it on social media.
Ottawa Police Service tweeted about downed trees and property damage to some houses in the area.
“There are no reported injuries at this time,” the statement said, adding the following roads are closed because of debris: Jeanne D’Arc Boulevard between Tenth Line Road and Trim Road, Highway 174 between Cameron Street and Trim Road. “There are also several residential streets impassable due to debris and fallen trees.”
Environment Canada issued tornado warnings for Gatineau and Prescott Russell just after 6 p.m., but not for Ottawa.
A tornado was spotted near the Gatineau airport late Sunday afternoon and a tornado warning was issued for Gatineau and the area around the Lièvre River and Papineauville-Chénéville. The warning was later expanded to Prescott and Russell after a tornado was reported near Rockland.
On Sunday night, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin said the tornado that touched down there did no significant damage.
Ken McGrath, director of operations for the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport, said there was no reported damage to the airport. “We just had a little bit of hail. Everything went south of us, toward the (Ottawa) river.”
Numerous people posted images of funnel clouds in Ottawa’s east end on social media.
The first alert was issued for the Gatineau area by Environment Canada at 6:01 p.m. It was lifted for Gatineau at around 7 p.m., but maintained for Papineauveille-Chénéville and Lachute.
“Persons in or near this area should be on the lookout for adverse weather conditions and take necessary safety precautions. Watch for updated statements,” the advisory said.
At 7:26 p.m., Environment Canada said a confirmed tornado was located near Alfred, moving east at 30 km/h. “Locations impacted include Alfred, L’Orignal, Coins Gratton, Blue Corners, Ritchance, Evanturel, L’Ange-Gardien, Village Lanthier, Cassburn and Henrys Corner,” it said.
A second possible tornado was near Wendover, moving east at 30 km/h, it added, with affected locations including Wendover, Glenburn, Rockdale, The Rollway, Jessups Falls, Centrefield, Treadwell, Plantagenet, Senecal, Curran and Plantagenet Station.
Just past 8 p.m., Environment Canada said a possible tornado was located near L’Orignal, moving east at 30 km/h. The storm was expected to be east of the region by 8:30 p.m., it added.
“As a city, as a community, we always want to be there for anyone who needs help moving forward from events like this,” Innes Coun. Laura Dudas said, adding this is just the latest in a string of weather-related crises for the city. “We need to be thinking about how we can be proactive in handling this.”
Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais was returning to Ottawa by train when the tornado hit. Asked what this latest weather incident might mean in terms of emergency preparedness for the municipality, Blais noted that the city was already in a state of emergency because of severe spring flooding.
“I think it will be a day or two before we know much more,” Blais said.
After a briefing from emergency services, Orléans Coun. Matthew Luloff said only one minor injury had been reported.
“And that person is going to be taken care of and is just fine. We were very lucky,” Luloff said.
Luloff also cited the already declared state of emergency because of flooding and said the response by both city staff and residents had improved.
“Over the last year, I think more people now take these incidents a heck of a lot more seriously.”
The overall goal should be to ensure that similar levels of response became standard, Luloff added.
“I don’t believe you ever get to a point with emergency preparedness where you have everything worked out, and you can always improve.”
Residents in parts of Ottawa and Gatineau hit by tornadoes last September are still cleaning up and trying to rebuild.
Ottawa Health tweeted a link to resources where residents can get help if they are feeling stressed, including the Ottawa Distress Centre at 238-3311.
by Elizabeth Payne (2019, June 3) Toronto SUN
