A massive storm on Sunday evening left a path of destruction throughout central Ontario east of Peterborough, prompting one municipality to declare a state of emergency.
Environment Canada and the Northern Tornadoes project will be assessing damage in the area of Marmora, Madoc and Tweed on Monday to determine if a tornado touched down. Sunday’s thunderstorm and high winds uprooted trees and downed powerlines including along Hwy. 7, and damaged cottages, homes and properties. The region is about 60 to 80 kilometres east of Peterborough.
Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Environment Canada warned of a severe thunderstorm that was “possibly producing a tornado” and cautioned it was a “dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation.”
As of Monday morning, no fatalities had been reported, yet several people reported personal injuries due to storm damage.
Fallen trees and power lines forced a section of Hwy. 7 to closed from about 9:30 p.m. Sunday and until around 6:40 a.m. Monday. Hydro One reported crews were working to restore power to more than 26,000 customers in the region.
The Municipality of Tweed declared a state of emergency on Monday. A reception centre is open at the Tweed Public Library at 230 Metcalf Street for residents impacted by the storm. The centre will be open until 8 p.m. Monday.
Among the impacted is Tweed resident Lyn Hopkin Prest who said the storm damaged her Price Road house and flipped a 30-foot trailer and downed 20 trees on her property. No one was injured.
“We are in one room of the house that is dry,” she said on Facebook. “We currently can’t leave property as we are barricaded by trees everywhere. We can’t get out and help can’t get in to our property.”
Also on Monday, the Municipality of Marmora and Lake declared a “Significant Weather Event” citing there may be risks on roadways in the municipality.
“Please drive with caution, and only make trips that are necessary to ensure the roads are clear for emergency services,” a statement read. “The road crew is out working on clearing roadways; they hope to be done all cleanup within a couple of days. We are aware of multiple locations with property damage, and we want to express our sympathies to those affected, and we know this causes a lot of work and can take a lot of time to remedy.”
The municipality’s landfill is open Monday until 3 p.m. Fees for drop-off of brush will be waived until further notice.
Also on Monday morning, Environment Canada reported the following damage locations:
- Rockdale: Flipped trailer and multiple injuries
- Marmoa: Homes damaged, downed trees
- Actinolite (north of Tweed): Homes damaged, roofs removed
- Madoc: Downed hydro lines and trees, Hwy. 7 was blocked by downed trees
The Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University is deploying a team north of Belleville on Monday and utilizing drones in the Kaladar area to assess the storm damage.
“It appears one or more tornadoes have caused extensive damage,” the team tweeted on Sunday night.
More to come.
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