While communities clean up after Wednesday night’s wicked summer storm, investigators are taking a closer look at the damage it caused to determine if a tornado touched down in southwestern Ontario. The Northern Tornadoes Project said the areas hit the hardest were between Cambridge and Bayfield. Strong winds knocked down trees, hydro poles and even a barn. Storm damage was reported across southwestern Ontario, from Waterloo Region to Goderich. The Northern Tornadoes Project said they are also investigating incidents in North York and Orr Lake near Barrie. “It appears the damage is mostly due to straight-line winds, but it’s possible that there was a tornado or two involved,” they wrote in a social media post. The group, which is based out of Western University in London, said their teams left Thursday morning to survey the debris. Wellesley According to Environment Canada meteorologist Rob Kuhn, there were reports of hail up to 5 cm in size. The agency also said a “radar confirmed tornado” was spotted just northwest of Weimer Line and Hackbart Road at one point during the storm. “What’s called a ‘tornado debris signature’ showed up on radars somewhere near Wellesley,” Kuhn explained. “It was quite noticeable and from what I could see in interpreting the radar imagery, I see and fully support why such a warning was issued, because something happened there from radar that was suggesting debris was in the air. A tornado could be one reason for it, another reason for something like that could be extremely strong wind gusts of 120 to 130 km/h all of a sudden.” A major clean-up effort was underway at Maple View Mennonite Church on Thursday. Fully grown trees had been knocked over or torn in half. “I’m guess about 20 trees,” Ken Janzti, a Maple View Church member said. “Even the tops were nipped off and [the trees were] pulled out by the roots.” Several headstones in the cemetery also tipped over or shifted during the storm. Resident Michaela Cober recalled what it was like when the storm reached its peak. “There was one cloud that came over and then another cloud came and I saw a slight rotation,” Cober said. “But then it started kind of going down more and my heart dropped. I was like, ‘I need to get inside with the dog.’” Cober’s husband saw the storm just after it moved through the church’s property. “It missed him just by two minutes,” Cober said. “It was definitely two minutes. He said, ‘I think a tornado just went through here.’” As of Thursday evening, experts had not yet confirmed if a true tornado moved through the Wellesley area. Waterloo Region Waterloo Regional Police said, between 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., they received 64 calls about dangerous conditions. “Reports included downed trees, downed power lines, traffic signal outages and localized flooding,” they wrote in a social media post Thursday morning. “If a downed tree, branch or other debris is creating an immediate danger such as blocking a roadway, bringing down power lines, creating a collision risk or causing injuries, call 911 immediately.” The city or township takes the lead on non-urgent matters. “If there is no immediate threat to public safety, please report the damage to your local municipality so appropriate crews can assess and address the issue,” the post continued. The Region of Waterloo said crews are hard at work. “Cleanup is being prioritized to help keep residents safe and maintain access for emergency services, transit and other essential travel,” they wrote in a statement to CTV News. Residents with specific concerns are urged to reach out to Service First Call Centre at 519-575-4400 or online. Kitchener Officials in Kitchener said they received more than 100 calls for help after the storm and, while city workers are responsible for clearing public roads and walkways, downed trees and other storm damage on private property is the responsibility of the owner. They also warned of hidden dangers. “While the most urgent needs and issues have been addressed, we continue to remind members of the public to be aware of the damage that may remain in upright trees and are at risk of falling,” they wrote in a media release. “Please do not climb downed trees or around upturned root balls, respect work areas around forestry crews and obey signs, barriers, and fences around areas that are closed.” “Right now, we’re just focused on getting roads and sidewalks cleared,” Kitchener’s manager of forestry and natural area management Josh Shea said. “So, that’s our primary focus at the time. We’re probably going to be keeping up for at least another two to three weeks afterwards.” Waterloo Waterloo also got about 100 calls from residents on Wednesday night. The city said crews have cleared most roads and are now focused on removing debris from homes and cars. That work will continue into the weekend. “We have four city arborist crews, along with contracted arborists as well,” said Derek Brick, Waterloo’s manager of forestry. “We have our traffic department out with wheel loaders assisting and our horticulture crews picking up small stuff. I would say, from city staff, there’s about 25 to 30 people working on it, along with contracted staff.” Waterloo and Kitchener both said the cleanup could take between two to three weeks. “As we get into more inspections, we understand what the magnitude of the impact has been,” explained Josh Shea, Kitchener’s manager of forestry & natural area management. “It’ll take several weeks till we know more about what the level of damage has been.” Power outages Thousands of people were also left in the dark after the storm took out power lines. Enova Power provides electricity to Kitchener, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. “Crews will work through the night to get power restored across our service territory,” they wrote in a social media post late Wednesday. By noon the next day, most of the outages had been resolved. GrandBridge Energy covers Cambridge, North Dumfries, Brant County and Brantford. They said, at the height of the storm, about 20,000 customers lost power in Brantford and Brant County. In Cambridge and North Dumfries, it was closer to 13,000. Fake photos The Northern Tornadoes Project issued its own warning on Thursday. “There are a couple of images being passed around online that are supposed to show observed tornadoes in Guelph and Paris, but we believe these could be AI fakes,” they said. “These are becoming increasingly prevalent in storm situations. We’re hoping to find more info on these.” With reporting from Krista Simpson and Shelby Knox
