At least eight injured, ‘catastrophic’ damage after EF2 tornado hits Barrie

Police in Barrie say several people have been hurt in a tornado that caused “catastrophic” damage to homes and businesses on Thursday afternoon.

County of Simcoe Paramedic Services say eight patients were transported to hospital with four of them being seriously injured. Seven of those hospitalized were being treated for trauma and one for a medical condition, they said.

As of Friday morning, the tornado has been confirmed as an EF-2, which records winds up to 210 km/h. 

The City of Barrie said those affected by the tornado are being assessed through an evacuation centre. No fatalities have been reported at this time.

Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman also said no one was unaccounted for.

“I can’t tell you how incredible it is that nobody has been killed, and I hope that as all the secondary searches are completed and the patients are treated in the hospital, that that continues to be the case,” he said.

“Because this certainly could have been a much more serious disaster.”

Barrie Fire confirmed in press conference that 20 to 25 structures were significantly damaged with at least two or three completely destroyed.

Fire Chief Cory Mainprize said roughly 20 homes are considered uninhabitable, with two or three completely destroyed.

The City’s first concern is for public safety and the safety of our first emergency response personnel. We are working with other response agencies to manage the situation and minimize the impact it has on our community as a whole,” read the release from the City.

Spokesperson Peter Leon said some homes have sustained major damage, and there have been power outages and damage to some gas lines.

Leon is urging people to stay away from the region, adding that the main area stuck was near Mapleview Drive East and Prince William Way where there is significant development underway, including a high school being built in the location.

A number of power outages were reported in Barrie. At its height, over 1,800 homes and businesses were affected, according to Alectra Utilities. 

As of Friday morning, almost 400 customers remain without power. 

Update: Power #outage in #Barrie affecting approx. 398 homes and businesses in The Prince William Way and Mapleview Dr East area. Crews continue to isolate homes damaged by the tornado in order to make it safe to reenergize the remaining customers. ETR still TBD. #pwrout ^pa

— Alectra (@alectranews) July 16, 2021

A construction site in Barrie shows significant damage following a tornado touching down. . By Mark Douglas

Geoff Coulson, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, says images and video posted to social media – which show heavy damage to buildings in the city’s south end – have helped confirm the storm was indeed a tornado.

He says the tornado touched down around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, minutes after Environment Canada upgraded its tornado watch for the area to a warning.

The Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University has started its preliminary investigation and said the damage path was 5 km long and about 100 metres wide. 

Damage from tornado shows car flipped over and roofs ripped off homes in Barrie, Ontario on July 15, 2021. By Rick Helinski | CityNews

People in Barrie have shared photos and videos of the destruction in the aftermath of the tornado, showing homes with their roofs partially torn off, overturned vehicles and debris littering the streets in parts of the city.

“My thoughts are with everyone in Barrie and Innisfil affected by the severe weather today,” tweeted Premier Doug Ford.

“A big thank you to our first responders that are currently on the ground helping the situation. Please stay safe everyone!”

Damaged homes in Barrie, Ontario on July 15, 2021 after tornado rolls through. By Rick Helinski | CityNews

Barrie will now turn its attention to clean-up. Crews are expected to start making some of the repairs Friday, including patching up roofs that weren’t too badly damaged.

Mayor Lehman said the community has already started coming together to support those who lost the most to the tornado, donating food and supplies.

He noted it’s a familiar scene to many long-time Barrie residents. A tornado killed eight people and injured more than a hundred others in the city in 1985. Hundreds of homes in the Allendale neighbourhood were destroyed.

“The scenes today are reminiscent of it,” Lehman said. “I lived in that neighborhood as a boy. I mean, it’s shocking, you know, you never expected to see it again.”

Thursday’s tornado brought back memories for 70-year-old Judy Arksey, too.

“It was like deja-vu,” she said. “I got one look at the sky and I knew what was coming.”

She was in her daughter’s car in the driveway when the tornado ripped down the street yesterday. Her two grandkids — aged six and 16 — were with them.

“I remember the horses being lifted up out of the racetrack during the other tornado, and I thought, here goes our car with my grandkids in it,” Arksey said.

Luckily, she said, the car stayed on the ground despite taking a beating in the strong wind, and she and her family escaped injury.

She said the community has come together in the wake of yesterday’s destruction, just like it did 36 years ago.

Arksey spent two weeks volunteering after the 1985 tornado, she said, helping out however she could at the church.

“I’m too old to do that this time,” she said.

Closer to home, a tornado touched down briefly along the Ottawa River earlier this week. 

Strong winds and severe thunderstorms broke out across eastern Ontario and the Outaouais on Tuesday night.

Video on Twitter shows clouds in a spinning motion touching down near Pembroke.

Video clip of #microburst #tornado touching down on #ottawariver near #beachburg last night at 19:45 @weathernetwork @environmentca Lots of damage to trees on islands near #sullivanislanddam #hydroquebec pic.twitter.com/yLwx90kXmZ

— Duncan Ross (@duncTO) July 14, 2021

There are also several damage sites in Quebec.

A team from the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University went to the Ontario site Thursday to investigate.