An emergency siren rang across Brighton, Ont., noontime Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of a devastating tornado that swept through the downtown.
Activating the siren were retired fire chiefs Harry Tackaberry and Lloyd Hutchison – using the same sire that rang out on July 13, 1973. The siren is located at the fire hall that was destroyed by the storm and rebuilt — station No. 1 on Elizabeth Street.
The 32-second homage matched the estimated time the tornado lasted, touching down along Main Street and leaving behind a trail of destruction.
Tackaberry recalls he and his family were en route east to Trenton, Ont., to do some shopping when the storm began.
“I got halfway to Trenton and the rain came down, hail; I said to my wife, ‘We’re going back to Brighton,'” he said.
By the time he returned, Main Street was lined with fallen trees and downed power lines and homes had shingles ripped from their roofs.
The century-old town hall warranted a rebuild due to the extensive damage it suffered. Memorial Park is on the site of the former town hall.
But fortunately, says Tackaberry no serious injuries or deaths were reported in the town located 37 kilometres east of Cobourg.
“We just ran around town checking on people to make sure they’re OK,” he said. “Nobody got injured, nobody got killed.”
Hutchinson recalls residents, including many area farmers, quickly sprang to action for the cleanup.
“Farmers had come in with their tractors and chainsaws,” he said. “They were sawing up trees to get the debris cleared so people could drive through town and get to their homes.”
The Municipality of Brighton says it took a few years to repair all the infrastructure damage and plant enough trees to restore the fallen canopy.
Leading up to the half-century anniversary, a committee dedicated to recounting the story of the tornado was established in Brighton.
A documentary was also commissioned for the Brighton Digital Archives to preserve the stories of residents who experienced the storm.
“People that had come through last Saturday and looked at the pictures we had up — a lot of them said they had goosebumps,” said Hutchinson, “because they remember being there and it took them right back to the day it took place.”
The town is even sharing a bit of humour about the tornado — on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. there will be a public showing of the film Into the Storm at Memorial Park on Main Street. The 2004 disaster film is a story about a rash of tornadoes that strike the fictional town of Silverton, Okla.
— with files from Sam Houpt, Global News Peterborough
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