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Fri Aug. 21 2009 4:07:17 PM
Some 200 homes in Vaughan so badly damaged they'll likely be demolished
The Canadian Press
Bedrooms of a home near Highway 7 and Martin Grove Road can be seen with no roof in this aerial shot from Chopper 24.
A tornado touches down in Vaughan on August 20, 2009. The tornado damaged homes in the area.(Submitted by CP24 viewer, Gina) |
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View larger imageBeware, some videos contain foul language.
Devastating tornadoes that ripped across southern Ontario left a small town mourning an 11-year-old boy's death and hundreds of Toronto-area families displaced Friday from homes so badly damaged that they'll likely be torn down.
Several communities bore the brunt of the furious storm Thursday that spawned as many as four twisters and destroyed numerous buildings, ripped up trees, flipped cars and left thousands of people without power.
Dazed residents across the province were left surveying the damage from the storm, the latest in a line of intense weather events this summer that have seen a woman and two boys struck by lightning in a Brampton, Ont., park and three American tourists killed in northern Ontario by a tornado.
The terrifying spectacle of destruction came as Eastern Canada prepared for Hurricane Bill, which will most likely enter Atlantic Canadian waters this weekend packing winds of at least 150 kilometres per hour.
The lone fatality from Thursday's storm was the 11-year-old boy, who was killed when a tornado tore through a conservation area near the southwestern Ontario town of Durham, where children were at a day camp.
Mike Muir, Grey County EMS manager, said the majority of emergency resources were sent to the Saugeen Conservation Area, "where a number of injuries occurred."
"Those injuries were as a direct result of the storm and the storm damage, with buildings collapsing as well as debris flying around the area," Muir said.
"There was a day camp that was occurring at the time... There was a fatality at that location and it was a young 11-year-old boy."
The boy, whose name was not released, was from the Durham area and was killed by debris, police said.
Six other people were treated in hospital and released, the majority of the injuries being scrapes, cuts, bruises, and minor broken bones, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Acting Mayor Dan Sullivan said it would take months of work to remove the "scars" on the community, adding his town was in a recovery phase.
Only minutes after arriving at the industrial site where the worst damage had occurred in Durham, meteorologist Geoff Coulson confirmed with "no doubt" a tornado rated at least F2 on the Fujita scale had touched down, meaning winds were roaring upwards of 180 to 240 km an hour.
He estimated the damage occurred in a "matter of seconds."
"The worst of these things can be very, very brief, but it's very, very intense," he said.
In one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods in Vaughan, north of Toronto, stunned residents gathered early Friday to survey the tornado damage.
Mayor Linda Jackson called it a "real miracle" that no one in the city was killed or seriously injured.
Still, the devastation was widespread. Some 200 homes were so badly damaged that they will likely be demolished, said Jackson, who added 600 additional homes were also damaged.
Fourteen building inspectors were surveying four storm-ravaged areas of the city.
A man evacuated from his home suffered a heart attack Friday morning after spending the night with his family and was in a coma, police said.
On Vaughan's streets, neighbours traded stories and cleaned up what they could.
Carm Spinelli was in her living room when the storm hit and has been staying with relatives because she hasn't been allowed back.
"It was a big roar. I never heard anything like that in my life," said Spinelli, who moved from the room just before her roof caved in.
"When I actually came outside and saw all of that I actually went into shock."
She, like other residents, said her next step is to talk to her insurance company about fixing the damage.
"You don't expect it, you never see this in Toronto, here," she said.
"We've had bad rain but not like this. It's not a good feeling."
Several streets of a residential neighbourhood were closed by police, but those allowed back in said they had never seen anything like this in Canada.
Pieces of trees, fences and brick were strewn across streets. Some houses had gaping holes in their front yards and exposed roof beams, while others were untouched by the storm.
Lampposts were torn off one driveway, while another was covered with downed trees, which had flattened cars, smashed lights and windows.
Fiorina Caravaggio was cleaning up after dinner when her granddaughter alerted her to the storm.
"I couldn't sleep last night. I never slept," said the distraught woman, whose home had broken windows and doors.
An evacuation centre in the neighbourhood was quiet, as many people in the tight-knit community opted to stay with family or friends.
Environment Canada was also dispatching crews to confirm tornadoes in Newmarket and the Collingwood area.
The Vaughan-area damage also seems consistent with a level-two tornado on the Fujita scale, Coulson said.
In Durham, giant tufts of pink insulation, splintered boards and crushed aluminum siding coated the lawn outside a printing facility, fitness centre, furniture store and veterinarian clinic where the greatest structural damage occurred.
A large trampoline rested upside-down on the pavement in front of the gym.
Corey Harris and his wife, Jamie, had just picked up their six-month-old son, Robert, from childcare and were planning to go shopping Thursday afternoon when they spotted the storm.
"We got only got so far when we started seeing clouds touching the ground, and swirling. There were birds caught up in this cloud," said Harris.
"We saw blueboxes exploding in mid-air. Unreal. Winds. So we had to turn around and get out."
Longtime Durham resident Jon Eckhardt was in his house when "everything starting to blow, trees start to topple over and then I knew part of the house at the top had blown away because of all the debris coming down."
"That's when I headed for the basement."
Eckhardt emerged after the storm passed to find his barn completely gone, some of his neighbour's barn is in his yard, and bales of hay all around.
While central and southwestern Ontario bore the brunt of the storm's fury, areas to the north were also affected, Coulson added.
"We did get reports . . . west of Powassan, up in the North Bay area, of a significant track of damage through a wooded area," he said.
Both Durham and Vaughan declared states of emergency because of the widespread damage in those communities.
Hydro One crews have spent the night re-attaching downed power lines, which left some 69,000 homes and businesses in the dark at one point.
By Friday morning, power had been restored in many areas serviced by the utility.
Beware, some videos contain foul language.
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Comments are now closed for this story
August 21, 2009 at 9:10:05 AM
Rumina B
Damn!!!
are Canadians even prepared for these type of natural disasters... warning DO NOT BUY NEW HOMES!! all these houses tore up instantly!!!
phewwwwww!!!
GOD HELP US ALL!
August 21, 2009 at 9:21:47 AM
Riki
Wow.. last night we lost our power and I was in a brand new home, with a 5 year old and a 7 week old.. scary stuff. I've never had to deal with threats of a tornado, and honestly, wasn't sure what to do.
Glad most ppl are ok.
August 21, 2009 at 9:47:31 AM
Ian
Worked in Sub-Division building for a few years (carpentry side). I wouldn't buy a new home, if you paid me too. They are built for as cheap as a possible. Sure you can dress them up in hardwood floors, crown, granite, etc. In the end they are still very poor build quality and it will haunt you in the future. Beware of any builder that builds new homes in the winter (foundation & frame work)
August 21, 2009 at 10:12:44 AM
Gino
All of the homes at Martingrove & 7 are at least 20 years old.
August 21, 2009 at 10:16:33 AM
henna
i feel sorry for those who lost their homes. The people spend their hard money for thier home, spend half of their life to pay mortgage or loan,and only within a moment destroy their dream home, which is very sad.WHY THE NORTH AMERICAN HOUSES ARE SO WEAK?/////// or the construction.
August 21, 2009 at 10:36:42 AM
Don
I live in area of marton grove and seven, all the houses were built reinforced in 1974. It didn't matter though, these houses were ripped to shreds like nothing. When winds are travelling at 240 km/hour what can you do. What could people do in the area? A lot of them are retired middle class italians who have lost everything to this storm.
August 21, 2009 at 10:42:24 AM
Rich
Fact: We are on the outer edge of Tornado Alley. Illinois and Wisconsin, not that distant from us on the other side of the lakes, experience many dozens of tornadoes per season, some of them very violent and deadly. One day three years back in August I believe, there were a dozen or so tornadoes confimed up in cottage country. Yesterday might have been he biggest video outbreak but tornadoes are a threat to the GTA especially with all the suburban sprawl gulping up more and more farmland, its only been 20+ years of luck that a F2? didn't hit the GTA until yesterday.
Keep your eye on the sky
August 21, 2009 at 10:45:22 AM
Brian
The real question is, what caused a storm like this? Save us Al Gore!
August 21, 2009 at 10:46:32 AM
Mary
I do not think the houses were weak but the storm was very powerful. Most of the homes at the Hwy 7 & Martin Grove area have been built more than 25 years ago. Thank God no one was seriously injured.
August 21, 2009 at 10:47:23 AM
Marry
The Martingrove and Hwy 7 area the houses are 40 yrs old. The tornado was vicious ate right through the subdivision
August 21, 2009 at 11:12:25 AM
Gord L.
It's amazing that there wasn't a much higher loss in life if you really think about it. As for construction quality, yes, new homes are built cheap. They are built with the idea that if you build it top of the line, you will likely spend more money than you earn. Here is a solution for homeowners. Cross-weaved carbon fibre. Expensive? Sure. But, it has been proven to withstand category 5 hurricane winds. That would sound over the top if it wasn't for the storms we had yesterday.
August 21, 2009 at 11:21:55 AM
Jackie B
God bless everyone, and keep us close and safe to his heart...
August 21, 2009 at 11:23:28 AM
Michael Zeppieri
I'm glad that most people survived this horrific storm relatively unscathed. The homes that were damaged were more than 20 years old, not new homes. The only home that would survive a direct hit from a tornado would be a bomb bunker. The houses are still on their foundations with obvious roof damage. Had the homes been built similar to most U.S. homes, without inground foundations, there wouldn't be a house to see. We can credit our building standards for the fact that there were not more injuries or casualties.
August 21, 2009 at 11:28:57 AM
FM, Toronto
First of all, let me say thank goodness no one was hurt, and my sympathy goes out to those who had damage to their homes - it must be a terrible experience. However, 'dire' warnings about not buying new homes and complaints about structural deficiencies are inane. Tornadoes are extremely violent forces of nature and few structures would hold up to something so fierce. Our building codes are actually much higher than in the US-if you notice homes down there are completely flattened. Moreover, tornadoes are extremely rare in Canada. I'm not from, or trying to defend, the construction industry but come on - nothing is guaranteed in life and this was a natural disaster. There's no one to blame here.
August 21, 2009 at 12:04:57 PM
Shamaro
I have been born and raised, right here in Ontario and through my 46yrs of life, I've been through a Tornado in 1977, 85, 91, 97, 2006 and now one we had yesterday.
I live exactly 50km's north of Toronto, so as you can see from the years I posted, Tornado's happen all the time around Toronto and believe me, I am prepared to the best of my ability if one comes my way.
August 21, 2009 at 12:20:17 PM
VX
The tornado that hit was classified as an F3 to F2 tornado. An F2 to F3 tornado has an intensity phrase between "significant" to "severe" tornado, with tornado wind speeds between 113mph to 206mph. Even well constructed homes are going to have roofs and walls blown off. Cars and even trains will be overturned at that speed.
So, what the hell are the user comments talking about when they say the houses aren't built strong?
Seriously people, do some research. Weak or strong, roofs are coming off the house if it's in the path of a tornado with that f-scale.
August 21, 2009 at 12:23:28 PM
Stela L.
My best congratulation to all people that showed the unity, to police and firefighters for the way they handled such unexpected situations and for the Mayor of Vaughan,many other mayors should take an example.All the best for
everyone,God help you all !!
August 21, 2009 at 12:30:33 PM
Carolina Gomez
Hello, my family and I are really sorry for all these families who have damages and lots their homes. Luckily we didn't get hit, but we're also in the city of Vaughan. We would like to donate to anyone who later on would need a 7pc Dinning Room Set with 4pc Buffet. If interested you can email us at aug9.2007@hotmail.com. May God bless everyone and help those in need. Thank you.
August 21, 2009 at 1:34:31 PM
Lucy
Damn
man we're not even prepared for that kinda stuff ehh
glad most people are okay
August 21, 2009 at 1:54:42 PM
Wendy
New home or old home, damage is damage and I agree that homes are not built as strong these days than the 60s but that is not going to make people feel better knowing they spend all their money for their home, to make it their own, and then something like a tornado hits it.
Come on people. They are going to have a battle on their hands to now rebuild their homes.
The perdiction is most will need to be re-built now instead of simply repairing them.
Most people will end up paying out of their pocket as this would be considered an "act of gof" and most insurance companies do not cover the damages.
A big Thank you goes out to Home Depot however who is helping those that can repair their homes by handing out plywood and other supplies for free in the Vaughn area today.
Good on you!
August 21, 2009 at 4:14:48 PM
elaine
my god I have just woken up, I am a Canadian living in New Zealand. What devastation I am seeing on the web. My heart goes out to you who have lost your possessions. I am praying for the family of the little boy who lost his life.
August 21, 2009 at 4:22:06 PM
bonemachine
Shoutout Tornadoes!
August 21, 2009 at 5:02:08 PM
Stef
I agree that most of us are not prepared for a Tornado b/c they are a rare occurance here. However, in the area where the Tornado hit, those houses are 35 years old and second, environment Canada labeled the tornado from yesterday a level 2 on the fujita scale and the damage it cased is typical for that type of tornado. Has nothing to do with old or new houses.
August 21, 2009 at 2:33:26 PM
C. Dowling
HEY - seems that CP24 has forgotten other parts of the city, Milton, where a possible tornado touched down as well.
We just moved away from there, but we hope all our friends and neighbours in the new homes are okay.
There are some of us that are concerned about other areas that have been hit.
August 21, 2009 at 4:26:15 PM
Dina
Hi my name is Dina and I work in woodbridge at In Storage / Storage Mart and I have spoken with my boss about the disaster that has happen in Woodbridge so we are offering to all those who's homes have been damaged we can offer them 1 month storage for only 35.00 for any size unit. Any one can contact In Storage in Woodbridge @ 905-851-1320 Gino
August 21, 2009 at 4:41:05 PM
A.M.
I'm a little surprised that folks don't think "these types of things happen in Canada". I have lived here my whole life and know we have tornado watches and warnings multiple times a year, in this area and nearby, and know that tornadoes or near tornadoes have touched down as well. Why do people have such short memories on this? I have seen very close weather to yesterday, without tornadoes mind you, in my area north of Toronto and where I used to live, west of Toronto. We are known for bad thunderstorms...and we should know that, which I guess we all do now.
August 21, 2009 at 6:31:30 PM
Elena
I went with my children to Wonderland thursday morning and we got cought in the rain and the employers of the park from Wonderland asked everyone to leave the park because the park had been closed due to the severe weather. I couldn't believe that they asked us with a smile on their faces to leave like we were not people... I've seen parents with todlers in they arms trying to get shelter from the rain and the workers send they away. This is unbeliveble. And guess what?! The park refuse to refund us or give us apass for another they. Isn't this unhumain?!
They should be sued for their action, isn't it?!
Thank you for listening !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 21, 2009 at 7:02:34 PM
Marian
i was around that area because i was at wonderland and i seen one of the tornado i was really scared and so were my younger sisters
and i feel so bad for the people who's house were destroyed
August 21, 2009 at 8:00:17 PM
Enza
the houses are very old....so you are VERY INCORRECT!
August 21, 2009 at 7:28:56 PM
alex
homes in north america are build for the economy to keep going. no one needs a building/structure to last forever. stone home wont need as much maintenance, plus they will survive a war. i am in a construction business, and seen it all. most of the home built in the past 15 years, are week. roofs and basememnts leaking in half of them already.
if any one remembers the kids tale about the 3 pigs and a wolf. same thing here.
August 21, 2009 at 9:16:43 PM
dan
Yes homes aren't built as well as houses decades back, but the ones who are saying it makes no difference that regardless of the fact if your home is built well or not... if your house gets hit by a tornado, your house will be damaged or destroyed...they are absolutely right.
The ones that don't think so are living in a dream world.
Do you honestly think that that a well built house can withstand 240kmhr winds? But everything else can't? If it can flip and or whip a car around, your house will be pretty much done.
Sorry to say.
But it's the truth. Let's just be thankful it happened during the day when people were at work or not sleeping because if it was a night, I can't imagine how much worse it would have been.
August 21, 2009 at 9:54:54 PM
Manuela
I live in North York and I can't even imagine what the people in the Vaughan and Woodbridge area are feeling at this time. It is absoultely devasating to hear that many peoples homes were destroyed. My heart goes out to these people. May God give them the strength to get through this difficult time.
August 21, 2009 at 11:15:30 PM
333.33
Sorry folks. Your insurance company will only cover tornado damage when the tornado comes from the opposite direction that it originated at, when the temperature is less than 32 degrees, but greater than 30.29, and the sky is clear, on every second leap year only, except if the year is an odd number with a modulus of 1.
August 21, 2009 at 8:20:03 PM
John
nice of you to take advantage of a disaster and try to sell your storage space - SHAME on you. This is not a time for advertising, if you want to promote your business offer the storage space for FREE!!!!
August 22, 2009 at 8:06:21 AM
kristina
If we all do our part, the recovery from this will be quick.
I myself am trying to raise funds to help those who have suffered from this horrible storm.
I can't raise enough to help everyone affected, but I have a fundraising goal of $50,000, and hope to be successful in my effort.
Even though the city of Toronto wasn't immediately hit by these tornadoes, we did suffer damage as I saw yesterday during my travels.
God Bless the family who lost their child, my heart goes out to you.
August 22, 2009 at 9:07:01 AM
Peter
There goes the building code. The demages seen are because a house should be build out of stone. Wood is used for sheds. No matter how nicely you decorate it. Look at westen Europe. They have storms too but never a dissaster like in North America. The point is that houses build with bricks probably would show less destruction. Look at the german house building code. You can land a tank on the roof and the structure would probably survive. Thanks god there are no major injuries and death toll.
A house of brick will last several generations . Today's wood homes are just good for the time unitl the mortage is paid off. The price between a home out of wood and stone is somewhere the same. A brick home in Europe will cost about 300 to 500 000 . Here u pay that for a wood home.
August 22, 2009 at 9:55:59 AM
Monica
Most of the homes that were destroyed are actually over 35 years old in the Martingrove Rd. area. I think that tornadoes have enough power to destroy ANYTHING in their paths!