Tornado in Barrhaven damages about 125 homes
CBC News | Posted: July 13, 2023 5:13 PM | Last Updated: July 14, 2023
No reports of serious injuries, family reunification centre set up
A tornado touched down in the south Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven early Thursday afternoon, damaging at least 125 homes, according to Ottawa Fire Services.
"The damage varies from roofs being ripped off of the homes, the shingles and the sheeting, down to broken windows and trees being down," Kim Ayotte, Ottawa's general manager of emergency and protective services, said during a news conference hosted by the city later in the afternoon.
"Thank God there was only one minor injury."
There was some damage to city infrastructure, Ayotte added, but nothing substantial.
"I think there's a lot of people breathing a sigh of relief," Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said in an interview. "It could have been a lot worse."
Witnesses told CBC they saw at least one tornado in the area. Several provided photos and videos of funnel clouds and swirling debris.
At least one video clearly showed a tornado making contact with the ground.
Researchers with the Northern Tornadoes Project said they would go to Ottawa Friday to investigate.
Ottawa Fire Services said a tornado was spotted around Umbra Place, just east of Highway 416. Ottawa police indicated they'd had similar reports.
Resident watched neighbour's roof rip off
Katie Gies was in her home in Barrhaven's Half Moon Bay neighbourhood at about 12:45 p.m. ET when she saw debris swirling through the air outside her window.
At this point, an emergency alert had not yet been broadcast on her phone. She started recording but didn't think much of it. There wasn't much noise and the clouds rolling past seemed normal.
"And then I saw a cloud funnel form, and it started to rip the roofing off of my neighbour's house down the street. I grabbed my dog, took him to the laundry room and we've been sheltering there since," Gies said.
WATCH | The video Katie Gies recorded of a tornado touching down:
"Had I not been directly at the window, I don't think I would have taken notice of it otherwise," Gies said.
"There wasn't an alert that was issued yet on my phone. It wasn't super loud. I didn't hear any debris hitting my home."
'Like a bomb going off'
Another Barrhaven resident, Alison Kinahan, said she remained shaken while she and neighbours assessed the damage in their neighbourhood.
While her own home was only stripped of some insulation and some trees were down in her backyard, people on a nearby street had no roofs, she said.
When her family received the first alert warning Ottawa residents about a tornado, they took shelter in the basement.
"I was just trying to stay calm for my daughter and my parents," she said.
Steve Hillier, who was visiting residents of Everbloom Lane, got under the guest bed as he heard the storm approach.
"Then there was just this massive boom, like I've never heard before, like a bomb going off," he said. "The glass then just blew, the wind came … the rain was coming in, glass everywhere, bits of roof coming down inside, insulation."
WATCH | Tornado was short-lived but devastating:
Ottawa paramedics said around 1:45 p.m. they knew of one person with a minor injury.
The city set up a family reunification centre at the Minto Recreation Complex at 3500 Cambrian Rd. for families that needed a place to stay for up to 72 hours. Five families were at the centre, Ayotte said during the city's late afternoon update.
"We're ready to help residents if they need help," Sutcliffe said from the complex during the news conference.
A spokesperson for Enbridge said that as of 4 p.m., gas at about 100 homes had been shut off due to storm-related damage.
They said that once it is safe to do so, power and gas will be restored.
Environment Canada said details including wind speed and the tornado's rating will be determined once teams are able to survey the damage it caused.
Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for communities such as Kanata, Orléans and the city's downtown around 12:50 p.m. Other areas had tornado watches.
A second tornado warning followed at about 2:45 p.m. and ended around 3 p.m.