Between 80 to 100 homes in a southern Ontario community have been temporarily condemned as crews continue to clean up the debris left by a tornado that touched down on Tuesday.
Environment Canada previously confirmed that the twister had struck Angus, Ont., at around 5:20 p.m. Tuesday evening. The national weather agency said the tornado, which sheared off the roofs of four homes, lasted about one minute before it moved east, towards Barrie, Ont. In its wake, the violent storm left a trail of damage. Lawns were littered with snapped tree branches, fence planks and other debris.
OPP have told people not to return to their residences until officials have secured the damaged buildings. The township of Essa, where Angus is located, has declared a state of emergency.
"I know that it is not nice to be out of your home, but we can’t have people going to places that are unsafe," Const. Kelly Daniels told reporters Wednesday morning. "There could be damage on one person’s property that may affect somebody else’s property and of course, we need to look at foundations and things like that."
Daniels said that she did not know when residents of the condemned buildings will be allowed back into their homes. In the meantime, a temporary shelter has been set up at the Angus Recreation Centre for displaced residents. A number of local pharmacies have also volunteered to refill prescriptions for people who may have left their medication inside their damaged homes.
Storms cause widespread power outages
At the height of Tuesday’s powerful storm, strong wind gusts also downed a number of power lines across the province. Hydro crews across southern Ontario worked throughout the night on Tuesday and continued Wednesday to restore electricity to thousands of customers who were without power.
While many homes and business have since had their power restored, some customers remain in the dark. Hydro One says about 1,500 customers in the Newmarket, Orillia and Barrie areas are still without power. Meanwhile, in Markham, Power Stream said that Warden Avenue, between Steeles Avenue East and Denison, will remain closed due to a number of downed hydro poles.
