'Like a clear-cut forestry operation': Cleanup begins at downburst-hit Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park

When Cameron Hockey is asked to describe the devastation from a downburst that hit Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park in northeastern Ontario the night of June 21, he's almost at a loss for words.

"The closest thing that I could correlate this to that some folks might have a mental image of would be like a clear-cut forestry operation," he said while standing in front of a building camouflaged by the large pine tree on top of it.

Hockey is manager of the Algonquin Zone of Ontario Parks. Over the past week, he's been co-ordinating the collaborative efforts to clear fallen trees from the park's roads and assess the damage.

"The number one priority right now is just to be able to provide that safe access for people to come on site and to grab their personal property," he said.

Downbursts are powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm. Unlike a tornado, which produces a wind funnel from the ground up, a downburst produces strong winds that move downward from a storm.

Hockey guesses the storm destroyed at least 100 trailers and vehicles when it knocked trees over like bowling pins.

He said it's a miracle no one was killed.

Significant damage

But some campers, like Colin Murphy of Eganville, Ont., suffered serious injuries. Murphy said his femur was shattered in four places after a tree sliced through his family's trailer and fell on top of him.

Hockey said another camper nearly lost her arm after it was caught under a tree for hours. Emergency workers, who trekked through the brush for hours to reach the campers, were able to free her, and surgeons later saved her arm.

The damage to the park is so significant that Hockey said it's impossible to say exactly when it will be able to reopen.

A drone image taken by researchers with the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) at London's Western University shows thousands of trees in the park's Jingwakoki Campground were flattened.

"There's so much material down right now that we actually need to remove a lot of debris just to fully understand all of the impacts that this has had on the park," Hockey said.

He said that includes critical infrastructure such as high-voltage power lines, water systems and buildings, such as public washroom facilities.

Non-profit caught up in the storm

Bill Steer is general manager of the Canadian Ecology Centre, which is located in the park.

Steer pointed to several cabins that had their roofs destroyed by fallen trees.

Had the storm happened a week later, more than 100 students would have been at the centre for summer camps.

"That would be a whole different story," he said.

Steer said the centre will need to close for at least three months to allow for repairs.

"As a non-profit, as an environmental education centre, we rely on operations, and so we don't get any subsidies," he said.

"The next real challenge is going to be a financial one."

Steer said it could take even longer for the park to reopen.

"The park has to go through an initial assessment, and then I believe, you know, it's anticipated a major forestry operation will come through," he said.

"And they'll start taking those trees off the cabins and then we can do our assessment."