Roof ripped off Ontario home in severe storm as experts see tornado numbers rise

Severe storms rolled through southwestern Ontario regions Wednesday night, causing power outages and fallen trees, and at least one home is without a roof.

Homeowners in Cottam near County Road 14 lost half their rooftop to the storm. 

They were not available to speak with CBC News, but confirmed their son was home at the time of the damage. He did not suffer injuries. 

Peter Valore, chief building official for the town of Kingsville, said this was the only home he knew of that had suffered severe damage. He attended the home on Thursday after the storm. 

"We need to deal with the insurance company and restoration company, and bring it up to standard." 

Valore said much of the storm damage he has seen this year has been due to flooding. He urges homeowners to be vigilant and keep on top of the weather. 

"There were plenty of alerts that came out last night. We want all residents of Kingsville and Essex County to be safe at all times," said Valore.

On Wednesday, Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, and most of southwestern Ontario. The weather authority predicted winds of up to 110km/h, with nickle-size hail and a possible tornado. 

Both Enwin and Essex Powerline utility companies said thousands of people were without power on Wednesday night. 

17 tornadoes in southwest so far

Environment Canada has not yet determined whether a tornado had passed through the region, including in Cottam.

Francis Lavinge-Theriault, research assistant with Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project, said his team is seeing an increase in the average number of storms — and tornadoes — in southwestern Ontario. 

"The old average for Ontario is 12 or 12½ tornadoes," he said. "We're slightly above average at 17 so far."

Lavinge-Theriault is investigating Wednesday's storm, but could not confirm if it was a tornado. 

Two weeks ago, two tornadoes had touched down in Windsor-Essex, causing millions in damage to a Leamington greenhouse. 

"The Leamington damage — a lot of greenhouses were damaged ... some of them were completely destroyed," Lavigne-Theriault told CBC News at the time. 

"They were all completely scrapped and destroyed. Actually, when I was there, they were loading semis with destroyed crops. It was pretty bad." 

Amherstburg residents felt the impact too, with plenty of people losing cellular service. 

Mayor Aldo DiCarlo was under the impression cellular towers were down. 

"At this point we're hoping everything will be restored by the end of the day and until then all we can do is ask for everyone's patience, especially if they are trying to communicate with town hall through cell or internet as some things just still aren't getting through."