Friday, August 21

Tornadoes Hit Southern Ontario

On Thursday we had planned to go to the Toronto Zoo, but since thunderstorms were in the forecast, we changed our plans. We headed out about 9:30 am. We weren't in a hurry and were just going to do a bit of exploring. I will post about that tomorrow.

We were on our way home about 6pm. Outside my window, I could see storm clouds moving in.

It was getting really dark and lightning was flashing brilliantly in the northern sky. I tried to get a photo of it, but lightning is fast. I did get a shot of the clouds in the distance.

Within minutes...like maybe three... this is a picture out the same window. Torrential rain and high winds roared through the area. It felled trees and I wondered if a tornado was brewing. I would guesstimate winds of 80 km per hour (approximately 50 miles an hour.) These kind of storms are rare in this area, though we used to get some bad thunderstorms when I was a child.

It poured so hard that we could barely see the road. Thank goodness we were just outside the city limits. We got into town and many intersections were flooded...one so badly it came up to the bumper of the van. The boys were in awe of nature`s fury.

By the time we got to the boys' house, it was only drizzling. The storm lasted about 30 minutes, but that was enough. Unknown to us, Michelle was about 5 minutes ahead of us and made it home just before the boys. She was traveling alone in the storm and was glad to be inside city limits when it hit. She had seen the storm clouds and put (in her words) "the petal to the metal." LOL I do have a daughter with a lead foot.

We all arrived home safely but this morning we found out there had been tornadoes throughout southern Ontario and as far north as Huntsville...about a four hour drive from here. A boy about Jordan's age is reported to have been killed in a campground north of here. Some people will be cleaning up for months. I'm not sure to what extent homes were lost but several people were injured and had to be treated at hospital.

Toronto area was also hit with several tornadoes and so was Welland and Niagara Falls, which is where we had just come from. 88,000 people in Ontario were without power. Some still are. Nature's fury is nothing to mess with. It seems that storms are becoming more severe in this area once again. From the sky, we may be in for another one today.

Update: Hurricane Bill is headed toward the Maritime Provinces. This is where hubby's mother lives. I do hope it misses her little town.

15 comments:

  1. Oh, dear!!! That must've been a fast moving storm....and those are the kinds that so easily CAN produce tornadic activity. I've seen so much of these in Eastern Colorado and along the back country of Nebraska.

    Glad to hear you made it home safely tho. It's not FUN driving where you can barely see the pavement, not to mention in front of you....and you can't pull off the road safely because the other travelers can't see you either!!!

    And....me and Michelle...I've oftentimes put the pedal to the metal too!!!! Not wise, but I have.

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  2. We'd heard on our news yesterday about all the tornado warnings in the southern area, even Barrie and North Bay were affected. Then this morning I heard on the news that there had been multiple tornados that did touch down. So very sad for all the people affected. Gosh, it must have been truly scary to be in the car while all this was going on...I would have been terrified alone like Michelle had been!!! Here we had a downpour that lasted about 15 minutes but there was no thunder, lightning or wind, just a steady downpour. Then the sun came out and that was it! lol Glad you got home safely!!

    Looking forward to hearing about your trip to NF and Welland:-) xoxo

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  3. It's horrible. I think I read this morning that 600 homes are damaged, 200 of which will have to be repaired. The boy who lost his life was at a daycamp at the Saugeen Conservation area...so very sad. We had very little, a minor thunderstorm and some bad rain but nothing out of the ordinary.

    I'm glad you and yours are safe


    Breeze

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  4. How well I know the familiar look of those clouds. We were forecast to have tornadoes yesterday, but thankfully it didn't get quite that severe, just some rain and thundershowers.

    Glad y'all made it home safely, and hope it's not been too severe today.

    Happy weekend! :-)

    Love and hugs,

    Diane

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  5. I would not want to be out during one of these. I have experienced it a few times and it is very scary. I'm not sure you should have driven through that water if it was up to the bumper. I saw on TV where a car can be swept away by only 2 feet of water.
    So happy everyone is safe, now.
    Mama Bear

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  6. What a huge change in three minutes. Scary.

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  7. Mary
    Storms are very scary at times. My Father was deathly afraid of them and I more or less respect them but after all the years of his fearfulness, I become rather complance to them. Glad to hear all of yawl are safe. Please be more careful with water on the roadways next time. Peace

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  8. So glad all of you are safe and sound... I do not like to be riding in weather like that...

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  9. I AM SO GLAD YOU ALL ARE SAFE!! Your header is so fun.i like it! I am sorry you wre having trouble My blog is not private and I do not know what is happening. I wish all a great weekend...m..

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  10. aha!!

    so THIS is where you hang out when you're not on facebook!!

    :-)

    glad you left me a comment on th' ol' blo'.... :-)

    hurricanes. ick.
    tornadoes. double ick.

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  11. We missed the bad storms in Kitchener. I had no idea the system was so bad until I heard the news. The skies you pictured were scary looking.

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  12. Tornadoes are the worst thing!! I have been in about 3 of them and NEVER want to do that again..so now we live here where we have both tornadoes and hurricanes...Hm!! Should have thought about that...Hope that your weekend is going great..I love your new banner..that Anni is good..

    Sandy

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  13. Mary!
    Oh my goodness!!We here in Oregon's Willamette Valley had a very similar type of weather system move through here back in June and it was pretty scary and exciting at the same time!A tornado warning was issued for the area just east of here and we NEVER have such things happen!Glad you are safe and posting here!Blessings~Sharon

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  14. So glad you are safe and hope his mother is too!

    Love, Jess

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