OttawaVideo

Scenes from the aftermath of the latest tornado

A team from theNorthern Tornadoes Project is expected to arrive in Ottawa Friday afternoon and will determine what rating to give this particular tornado according to the enhanced Fujita scale.

Thousands still without power in the Outaouais

CBC News Posted: Aug 04, 2023 1:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 5, 2023

The south Ottawa tornado tore a hole in his roof

1 year ago

1:01

Michel Simonot said he and his family took cover in their basement when they heard the sound of wind picking up in their neighborhood.

Thousands of customers remain in the dark in western QuebecFriday morning after severe thunderstorms rolled through the area late Thursday evening.

As of 6 p.m., Hydro Qubec said there were more than 2,000 customers without power in the Outaouais. There were also a handful of outages in the Ottawa area for Hydro One customers.

Environment Canada also confirmed a tornado formed in Metcalfe, a rural community in Ottawa's south end.

Cleanup begins after tornado rips through south Ottawa

This latest tornado comes less than a month after four touched down in eastern Ontario, including two in the west-end community of Barrhaven, on July 13.

People in the area reported seeinghail, chairs, garbage bins and barbecues flying, and large trees being uprooted.

A team from the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) arrived in Ottawa Friday afternoon and will determine what rating to give this particular tornado according to the enhanced Fujita scale.

The tornado's wind speed can be determined based on structural damage on the ground, said Connell Miller, an engineering researcher for the NTP.

So far, Miller said Thursday's tornado was significant,but had a weaker intensity than the twothat hit Barrhaven last month.

"You see some minor shingle damage here, some minor soffit damage, some decent sized trees that are down, but nothing like an entire subdivision missing a good chunk of their roofs like you saw in the previous tornado there," he said.

The two tornadoes that hit Barrhaven were classified EF-1.

4 tornadoes hit eastern Ontario on day of Barrhaven storm, investigators find

Miller said Ottawa is a tornado prone area, but research is still underway to determine why that is. Residents should be prepared to take safety precautions when the risk of a tornado does arrive.

"Don't wait for the warnings," he said.

"Have some sort of awareness of when the severe storms might come in your area and have a plan to go to your basement and have enough food and water down there that would last you 48 hours without power."