Slow clean-up 3 weeks after tornado rips through Barrie, Ont.
Nearly three weeks after an EF-2 tornado tore through a community in Barrie’s south end, the clean-up is slowly progressing as more resident gain access to their homes.
“It’s sinking in and it’s been quite a ride,” said Bailey Hartley who just moved back to into her home with her husband and daughter on Monday after living in a hotel and renting a place on AirBnB.
All of the windows are boarded up and inside, the floors have been removed and parts of the ceiling have been cutawy due to water damage after crews were able to clean-up the debris left in the wake of the twister.
“It feels weird because there are no floors, a lot of your furniture is gone – we’ve owned this home for seven years next month, so we’ve built a life here and it’s sad in that way.”
Chantal Belley was allowed to move back into her home on the weekend and still cleaning up shattered glass.
The tornado shattered windows and tore shingles off the side and rear of her house. Belley is now waiting on her insurance company to finishing assessing the damage and has been told the repairs could take months, possibly even longer.
“I’ve been told the siding could take a year, we could have boarded windows into the winter because with Covid there has been supply issues,” Belley said. “There is definitely concerns, we don’t have full coverage we could getting more water damage.”
Currently, 70 homes have been deemed uninhabitable. Upwards of 200 more were damaged. The city has allowed access to 39 properties.
“There are at least 20 to 25 homes with their roofs lost, that general means the home is a write off and has to be torn down,” said Glenn McGillvray with Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction which sent out a team to assess the damage.
McGillvray said the cost to repair homes could also increase.
“The price of lumber has been sky high – the price of drywall and getting contractors might be tough.”
As the damage assessments and clean-up continues, the community continues to rally around those impacted.
Donations continue to be collected and distributed to those who need the most help, while an army of volunteers help with the clean-up efforts.
“For the families it’s coming back into their homes and trying to decide what do I need versus what do I want, a lot of its food and toiletries – things we take for granted,” said Sher Braun who has helped about a dozen families with her on initiative Clean-up Barrie.
The Ontario government has recently announced it was activating the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians (DRAO) program to support impacted residents.
The DRAO assists with emergency expenses and the costs to repair or replace essential property after a natural disaster for a primary residence and its basic contents, a small business, farm or a rural, not-for-profit organization.
Residents with no insurance coverage or insufficient insurance coverage for essential costs will have until Nov. 26, 2021, to apply through the program.
- With files from CTV News Barrie
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.