Cleanup underway after tornado rips through Barrhaven

Zoya Tariq remembers feeling her Barrhaven home shake Thursday afternoon as the rain fell fast and funnel clouds hurtled toward her neighbourhood.

"I [thought] we were going to die," she said. "It was really bad ... it was the worst 20 seconds of my life." 

Ottawa Fire Services said around 1 p.m. it had received reports of a tornado just east of Highway 416. Ottawa police indicated they'd had similar reports.

Shortly after, Environment Canada confirmed at least one tornado had touched down in the south Ottawa suburb. 

"When we came outside, our house was, like, broken," Tariq said. "Our garage door ... our bikes, everything was gone."

According to a Thursday night update from city officials, the tornado left at least 125 homes damaged:

• 50 houses on Umbra Place and Watercolours Way.
• 35 houses on Perseus Way and Proxima Terrace.
• 30 to 40 houses on Jockvale Road and Exeter Drive.

As of 7:30 a.m. Friday, 11 Hydro Ottawa customers were without power in Knoxdale-Merivale ward. The estimated restoration time was listed as 1 p.m. Friday.

Hydro One had several small outages in eastern Ontario affecting fewer than 20 people near Innisville, Kingston and Pembroke, with restoration expected later Friday morning.

In Hydro-Québec territory, there were scattered outages affecting fewer than 10 people on Boulevard Saint-Rene Ouest in west Gatineau, as well as in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais, La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau and Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.

In Ottawa, witnesses told CBC they saw debris swirling in the sky after the tornado hit. It's now landed on their streets and in their yards.

"The furniture, the plants, everything was, like, flying," said Raya Jalabi, who watched the storm wreak havoc.

"Everything is just ... completely destroyed."

Ottawa police deputy chief Steve Bell said Thursday afternoon the tornado knocked down a hydro pole, causing about 1,600 homes to lose power. As of 8 p.m., fewer than a dozen remained in the dark.

Paramedics said they only received one report of a person with a minor injury. 

'Not like the derecho'

The storm ripped roofs off homes, stripped away shingles, broke windows and downed trees, said Kim Ayotte, general manager of emergency and protective services for the city.

"It's a variety of damage, from small damage to quite substantial damage at this time," Ayotte said.  "It's certainly not like it was with [the] derecho [storm]. It's not as widespread. It's very localized."

• City of Ottawa draws on lessons learned during derecho to prep for next emergency

Cleanup efforts are underway and are going well, Ayotte added. He urged people who don't live in Barrhaven to avoid the area so crews could do their jobs.

In a statement, the city said there were no reported impacts to municipal infrastructure. The public works department prioritized removing debris that posed a risk to public safety on Thursday and is now finalizing a plan for the remainder of the work.

Police officers and firefighters remained in Barrhaven as of 8 p.m. Thursday, surveying the damage and helping people. 

There may be road closures due to fallen trees and electrical wires, the city said.

• The Barrhaven tornado in pictures
• Tornadoes touched down in Ottawa and Quebec. Here's what to do during an alert

The Minto Recreation Complex at 3500 Cambrian Rd. reopened at 10 a.m. on Friday as a community support centre, and is open until 7 p.m.

Representatives from the city's building code services department are there to share information on assessing damage and starting the insurance process. They'll also answer general safety questions. 

The Canadian Red Cross and the Salvation Army are there to provide assistance, the city said.

Tornado researchers have arrived

A survey team with the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) arrived Friday morning to assess the damage from the storm.

Aaron Jaffe, one of the researchers, said the team will estimate the force of the tornado by looking how much damage was caused.

"You never know for sure whether there was multiple tornadoes or there was other damage like straight-line winds, known as downbursts, that occurred as well," he said.

By looking at the structures that were damaged, Jaffe said, the team can estimate how fast the tornado was moving.

"We want to improve tornado warnings, improve the designs of structures for tornadoes, look for trends in the tornado data, such as from climate change or things like that."