Whitewater rafting company in Ottawa Valley cleaning up after possible microburst
Posted Jul 14, 2021 03:41:00 PM.
Esprit Rafting is cleaning up and checking its river routes for damage after a severe thunderstorm and potential microburst hit the area just east of Pembroke.
Rafting company CEO Jim Coffey tells CityNews Ottawa and the Valley, the damage following Tuesday's storm is a bit more than normal, but not unlike other severe weather events of the past.
“This one happened to happen one spot where we do our white water rafting,” he explains. “[We've considered] the idea that perhaps it was twisting like a tornado would, but we're not dealing with mass destruction and devastation.”
His concern is mainly that downed trees dropped in the water could lurk just below the surface and pose a danger for rafters.
“[The storm is] known to have done some damage to a particular island near one of the rapids called McCoy Shoots, called Cedar Island. We've already sent a scouting crew of kayakers out on the river to assess some of the damage where we do our rafting.”
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
Environment Canada has not yet confirmed that there was a tornado, downburst or microburst in the Ottawa Valley on Tuesday, July 13.
