Tornadoes touched down in Leamington and Windsor, researchers say
Twister caused damage at a greenhouse
Two tornadoes hit Windsor-Essex over the weekend, including one that ripped through a greenhouse in Leamington, according to the Northern Tornadoes Project.
Researchers with the Western University-based initiative surveyed damage at several sites earlier week following the storm on Saturday night.
"The Leamington damage — a lot of greenhouses were damaged ... some of them were completely destroyed," said Northern Tornados Project research assistant Francis Lavigne-Theriault.
"They were all completely scrapped and destroyed. Actually when I was there they were loading semis with destroyed crops. it was pretty bad."
The organization concluded that a twister touched down in Windsor at 9:20 p.m. and caused tree and roof damage described as minor. The tornado, which moved at an estimated 125 km/h, has a preliminary rating of EF0, the weakest rating on the Enhanced F-scale used for measuring the strength and destruction caused by tornadoes.
The tornado that hit Leamington less than an hour later was stronger, with a preliminary rating of EF1 and winds estimated at 145 km/h.
The twister caused extensive damage at a greenhouse, and also uprooted trees.
That includes millions of dollars of damage at C & B Farms.
"I would say there's probably about four acres of greenhouse that need a new roof," said Chris Tiessen, the owner.
"It's destroyed nine acres of crop."
"It's hard to put a total number on it at this point but it's going to be expensive ... it's cost us about half of the year," said Tiessen.
The farm does have insurance, said Tiessen, adding that he hopes everything gets cleaned up soon.
"We're really hoping to have the roof closed in by late fall, and hopefully in January we can be back in business again," he said.
In addition to the twisters in Leamington and Windsor, two other tornadoes have been confirmed by the researchers. The tornadoes in Bayfield and Thornbury were both rated EF-0.