Windsor

Windsor tornado left Peche Island a mess of garbage

Wednesday night's tornado, which tore through the Greenwood Centre industrial park and swath of homes on Riberdy Road, blew debris into the Detroit River.

'I didn't count the bags, if there is 50 or 60 bags, that's minimal'

A canoeist paddles garbage around Peche Island on Sunday as part of a cleanup effort there. (Roger Chauvin/Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club)

Rather than the Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club taking its normally leisurely paddle out to Peche Island on Sunday, the club went to work, cleaning up after last week tornado.

Wednesday night's tornado, which tore through the Greenwood Centre industrial park and swath of homes on Riberdy Road, blew debris into the Detroit River. It eventually made its way to the banks of Peche Island. 

A canoe was piled high with tornado-blown debris Sunday on Peche Island. (Roger Chauvin/Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club)

"I didn't count the bags, if there is 50 or 60 bags, that's minimal," said Stacy Adam, the president of the Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club. "

The group filled up a large voyageurs canoe with styrofoam, roofing materials, insulation, bottles and other garbage that the twister spewed into the river.

Volunteers even found a large deck box amid the debris. 

Canoes were used to haul tornado-blown debris off Peche Island on Sunday. (Roger Chauvin/Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club)

"It's heartbreaking to see all of the garbage over there...it is our space where we go, we have barbecues over there and we spend a lot of time there, so we couldn't go without doing something to clean it up," Adam said. 

The canoe club wasn't the only group tidying up. A group of jet skiers also circled the island, plucking tornado leftovers from the water and surrounding vegetation. 

A volunteer in hipwaders bags up garbage on Peche Island on Sunday. (Roger Chauvin/Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club)

The Windsor- Essex County Canoe Club plans on taking one more trip to Peche Island. The volunteers are going to walk the shore and pick up all the little garbage that was missed Sunday.