Weather officials confirm at least one tornado touched down Sunday night east of Peterborough as storms swept throughout southern and central Ontario.
The storms left a 60-kilometre path of destruction in the areas of Marmora, Madoc and Tweed, about 60 to 80 kilometres east of Peterborough. The Municipality of Tweed on Monday declared a state of emergency.
On Monday teams with Environment Canada and the Northern Tornadoes Project from Western University assessed the damage and determined at least one tornado touched down in the region ranging from Marmora to Actinolite (eight kilometres north of the village of Tweed).
“There was a long track of damage due to at least one tornado and downburst winds,” states a preliminary report issued Tuesday morning by Environment Canada.
Officials believe the EF-1 tornado had peak wind speeds of approximately 175 km/h.
“The final track and length of the winds associated are not yet determined,” Environment Canada stated.
No fatalities were reported but there were a number of injuries as the storm downed mature trees and power lines, overturned a trailer, damaged homes and destroyed a number of barns. A section of Highway 7 was blocked overnight due to fallen trees and power lines.
Hydro One said Tuesday morning that power has been restored to 40,000 customers across Ontario who were without power due to the storms.
On Tuesday, Tweed Mayor Jo-Anne Albert and Madoc Township Mayor Loyde Blackburn said some residents have joined emergency crews in helping to clear downed trees off roads.
Both mayors say their communities are coming together to help recovery efforts once more after the area was hit by a supercell thunderstorm in mid-June.
— with files from The Canadian Press