Northwest of Metcalfe, Environment Canada confirmed there was a tornado
Residents of some parts of southern Ottawa are cleaning up after a tornado hit the area Thursday night.
Environment Canada confirmed that a tornado formed northwest of Metcalfe.
The Ottawa Paramedic Service said Thursday evening that no one was hurt because of the storm. But people all over the area reported hail, strong winds, and trees that had fallen.
Jacques Jodoin, who lives near Kelly Farm Drive in the Ottawa neighborhood of Findlay Creek, said he saw a funnel cloud forming from his backyard.
“I saw everything turning, like cushions and trash cans,” he said. “I saw everything turn and speed up, so I ran into the house with my family and went downstairs.”
Environment Canada said in a news release at 6:53 p.m. that the tornado was nine kilometers northwest of Metcalfe and moving east at 50 km/h.
The agency said that there were risks like hail the size of ping pong balls and wind gusts of up to 90 km/h.
Environment Canada had just sent out its second tornado warning of the day for the Ottawa North-Kanata-Orléans area.
A resident says that storms like these are “new to Ottawa.
Along Albion Road South, the storm broke fences, uprooted trees, and knocked down power lines.
Steve Spratt’s house was one of the ones that was hurt by the storm. Spratt said that he was too busy looking for his barbecue to notice that a huge tree had fallen in his front yard. The Spratts also own the house next door, where a shed was destroyed in the backyard.
Spratt said he’s surprised that these kinds of storms seem to be happening more often in the area.
Three weeks ago, there were tornadoes in the area, and last Friday, there was a strong wind and hailstorm.
“This is new to Ottawa, and it’s new to us,” Spratt said. “We grew up in Ottawa, and when I was a kid, this didn’t happen.”
Michel Simonot agreed with Spratt and said that when a hole was torn in the roof of his house, he was not ready for it.
“When a tornado hits your house, you don’t know what to do. He said, “This is something new for Ottawa.” “I’m very stressed out… I still haven’t calmed down from all the adrenaline.”
In a tweet, Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) said that part of the roof of a house on the 4000 block of Canyon Drive in Riverside South had been ripped off.
OFS also said in a tweet that Albion Road had been closed in both directions just north of the Rideau Carleton Casino because of trees and wires that had fallen.
Steve Desroches, a city council member for Riverside South-Findlay, tweeted that two 911 calls were made about roof damage, but no one was hurt.
Environment Canada had already issued a warning for the same area at 5:36 p.m., but just before 6 p.m., they changed it to a tornado watch. At that time, a tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning were in effect for the Ottawa South-Richmond-Metcalfe area.
When there is a tornado watch, it means that storms could form that could cause a tornado. When a tornado warning is issued, it means that a tornado has been seen or that reliable information says one is about to happen.
At 11 a.m., the first tornado watches were issued for Ottawa, Gatineau, western Quebec, and communities east of Ottawa to the Quebec border, west to Petawawa and Barry’s Bay, and south to Gananoque and Kaladar in Ontario.
The rest of eastern Ontario was under a severe thunderstorm watch.
