HURON-KINLOSS – The report by Fire Chief Chris Cleave on the recent EF2 tornado topped the agenda at the Sept. 20 meeting of council.
Mayor Mitch Twolan commented that the “pictures (in the report) were something else.”
He gave a “big shout-out” to emergency services and the roads staff, who continue the work of clearing damage.
“We were very lucky,” Twolan said, noting that ACW (Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh) had been hit by “back-to-back tornadoes a day apart. “Things can be fixed, lives can’t be.”
Cleave’s report stated that on Tuesday, Sept. 7, Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm warning. Shortly after 4 p.m., the storm made landfall in the ACW and Huron-Kinloss areas.
Calls began to come in to the fire departments, with reports of a possible tornado in Point Clark, Kingsbridge and Lucknow.
Firefighters were asked to report to their respective stations to begin necessary response operations. Ripley-Huron was right on-scene – the department was already on a call in Point Clark when the storm made landfall.
There were multiple reports of damaged structures, downed trees, blocked roads and downed hydro wires.
Cleave said in his report that fire resources were stretched to capacity, and public works staff were called in to assist with road closures and debris removal. No mutual aid from other communities was required.
There were no reports of people trapped, killed or injured.
The Northern Tornado Project confirmed at least one tornado damage path assessed as EF2 with estimated wind speeds of 180 km/h and a track length of 19 km with a maximum width of 1.3 km.
Cleave stated in his report that damage was kept to a minimum because of the rural path of the tornado. Had the storm gone through an urban community with a higher population, the response would have been very different.