Cleanup begins after two tornadoes touch down in Ontario

The vicious storms that ripped through parts of southern Ontario killing a young boy late Thursday and ripping the roofs off houses were tornadoes, Environment Canada confirmed Friday.

"There is no question that these were tornadoes," said Peter Kimball, an Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist.

Four teams investigators have determined that an F2-strength tornado, with minimum wind gusts of 180 kilometres an hour, hit the Vaughan region north of Toronto Thursday afternoon. A second tornado also touched down in Newmarket.

Kimball said investigators in the other areas affected by the severe weather – Durham and the Collingwood area – have not been able to confirm the storms there were tornadoes.

The strong winds toppled trees and power lines and ripped the roofs off homes starting at around 4 p.m. Thursday.

The one confirmed death, an 11-year-old boy, happened at a campground in West Grey, Ont., about 180 kilometres northwest of Toronto. Emergency crews attempted to revive the boy but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The boy’s name was not released at the request of his family.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said the province would financially assist tornado victims, but was not prepared to reveal any details of the plan.

"There will come a time when we have to sit down and assess and at what the financial aspects," he said during a tour of the area. "I just want to assure folks in this community that they have our goodwill and if we’re called upon to provide resources we won’t hesitate to do so."

The premier said residents will be able to return to their homes once they are cleared as safe by building inspectors.

"I think right now what we want do is ensure that everybody is safe, that we get the power back on, that we get the gas lines running in a safe way, that folks have some place to stay," he said. "We’re going to assess the homes, make a determination what can be rebuilt and what needs to be redone entirely."

Officials in Durham and Vaughan have declared states of emergency, with Vaughan Mayor Linda Jackson describing the damage there as "catastrophic."

"We haven’t determined costs just yet. The cleanup effort is paramount for us," Jackson said Friday, adding she has "never seen devastation like this."

In Vaughan, 600 homes had to be evacuated Thursday night.Jackson said 200 of those received "critical" damage and likely will have to be demolished.

It’s estimated about 2,500 people have been displaced.

She said emergency crews reacted quickly to the damage.

"We practice for this on a regular basis . . . Last night everything worked flawlessly," she said.

Jackson said the Insurance Bureau of Canada was working with people affected to help them process their claims.

Meanwhile, Hydro One reported that some 63,000 homes were without power across the province at one point, but by Friday morning that number had been reduced to approximately 21,000.

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