A quiet morning in eastern Ontario turned sour quickly on Wednesday, Aug. 29, when high winds and sheets of rain caused havoc.
“I looked out the window and all I saw was what I thought was a tornado,” said Rebecca McGovern a resident of Smiths Falls, Ont.
The storm hit Smiths Falls at around 1 p.m. and McGovern says the “tornado” ripped through her yard and her neighbour’s farm shortly after.
Get breaking National news
The farm across the street from McGovern had two of its three barns flattened and the debris from each was tossed hundreds of yards in all directions.
READ MORE: Tornado warnings lifted, severe thunderstorm warnings in effect for parts of eastern Ontario
The owners of the farm refused to speak on-camera, but the aunt of the owner said her nephew confirmed that no one was injured and that he had been working around the clock to repair the damages.
- Quebec police ethics commissioner opens file into Montréal-Nord racism allegations
- ‘It was horrible’: Ontario man warns of tick-borne illness after 10-day hospital stay
- Quebec rail bypass approved 13 years after deadly Lac-Mégantic derailment
- As Ontario wildfires rage, Canadian Forces on ‘standby’ to help: minister
McGovern has lived in Smiths Falls for nearly two decades and said she had never experienced a storm like this.
“We were bunched together staring out the window watching this tornado destroy our neighbour’s farm, and then I turned to my boys and said, ‘We should go to the basement,” said McGovern.
Environment Canada has yet to confirm or deny that a tornado touched down in the Smiths Falls area on Wednesday.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.